The Last Battle
by Teochard
Summary: Long ago, at the time of creation, there was nothing but Darkness. Thirteen Lights pushed away the Darkness and created all worlds. The thirteenth rebelled, and became Tabuu. Now, an army, led by the the Twelve Reborn reborn must stop him.
1. Prologue and F-Zero world

**Hello, this is just a little something I've been working on. I was kind of disappointed with the lack of a proper story mode in the new Super Smash Bros., so I thought I'd write my own story. I'm going to include every world with a connected mini-story arc for every playable IP in the series. I'm also going to include a handful of worlds not in Smash that at least a few people think should be in Smash. If you have a world to suggest to visit, feel free to let me know. I hope to release at least two or three chapters a day, though understand that may not happen. Any feedback is welcome.**

**Prologue:**

Ahem, welcome young ones! I've been told you've come for a grand tale the likes of which you'll never hear again. Who am I you ask? I go by many names, but you may call me simply the Narrator. My true name is irrelevant as this is not mine, but rather a story involving some you may know very well. We've been told all of our lives that the worlds of fiction are just that: fiction. I'm here to tell you that's a lie. These worlds are just as real as you and me. You can't reach them if you traveled a billion light years, though. Reaching them requires magic or ingenious science besides. Of course, our tale doesn't involve all fiction, just the video game worlds. The heroes and villains of those universes never interact with one another, at least not anymore. Who knows, they may have stories of us and believe we're fiction. I really can't say. Anyway, you might ask why I'm bringing this all up. Well, I said they don't interact anymore. They did so not so long ago. The battle was long, arduous, and every world hang in the balance, even our own though we did not know it. How do I know this? Heh, heh… let's just say I have my sources. Now do you want to hear this story or not? … Very well, it all began on a bright sunny day in Mute City…

**Chapter 1: Before the Race**

You see, Mute City happens within the F-Zero universe. It's actually not so different from our own. Taking place only about 400 years from now, the world is extremely futuristic. Sometime in the future, (do not ask me for I do not know), New York City is renamed to Mute City and the place becomes a center of bustling trade for the entire galaxy. By far the biggest past time of this world are the F-Zero races. They involve these large, powerful machines that float along the ground and can travel at close to 2000 kilometers per hour. Only the best can race these cars without crashing. Anyone lucky enough to become an F-Zero racer becomes more popular than a president, pop star, and your own grandma combined. But all is not perfect in this universe. It was foretold shortly after our present day that, one day, an evil one would erase the current universe and would create a new one in its place with the power of strange otherworldly machines called Reactor Mights. The only one who could stop him was one who would become the best F-Zero racer and take on the title of Captain Falcon.

But who truly is Captain Falcon? My sources tell me it was one Andy Summer. Andy Summer was one the brave, courageous young police officer that faced off against the forces of Zoda's street gangs in the heart of Mute City. He worked hard every day and lived for his work, which, luckily for him, was alongside his sister, Jody Summer, who also a brilliant cop in her own right. That all changed when Zoda allied himself with the Evil One, Black Shadow. No one knows where Black Shadow came from, but he's the one Captain Falcon is destined to defeat. Two years before the day in question, Zoda pretended to surrender to law enforcement just after he came into Black Shadow's service. It was a trap. A massive bomb was planted and the two sent to arrest him, Jody and Andy Summer, fell into the trap.

Jody suffered major bodily harm. With the help of a lifelong friend, Dr. Stewart, she was able to replace the damaged body parts with robotic parts. In time, she became the respected leader of a crime force dedicated to winning F-Zero races to keep the prize money out of the hands of Black Shadow. Andy Summer… was declared dead. The police never found his body, and it was presumed to have gone up in smoke as Andy Summer spent his last brave moments using his body to shield his sister from the explosion. Of course, we know the truth. Taking on the facade of Bart Lemming, he created a coffee shop which acted as a front for his F-Zero activities. He became Captain Falcon. Two years have since passed where our story begins.

Captain Falcon is a man able to make tough calls, but he's about to make one that he's not sure he is able to. This morning, something felt wrong, and nothing he could do seemed to fix that. He had the distinct feeling that something big is about to happen and he's going to play a huge role in it. That could not possibly be right; his destiny wasn't here yet, was it? All the same, he knew something was coming. He did not know if he would survive the day, so he needed to get something off his chest before his death. Jody Summer needed to know Andy Summer yet lived. This was a dangerous decision: no one knew he was still alive and his anonymity was just as much for his protection as hers. He ought to tell her, but would she even want to see him after keeping this secret? A million thoughts ran through Captain Falcon's head, but he would only have one chance to speak with her before the F-Zero race. He headed down to her bunker almost turning back several times. Finally, he reached where she would be working on her machine and spoke up.

"Jody," he spoke simply, "There is something you must know."

"If it isn't Captain Falcon. Are you here to wish me luck or tell me not to compete like you did at the Red Ocean race a few months back?" Jody replied with her head in the hood.

"You nearly broke your neck. Black Shadow knows you too well."

"Maybe so, but it's my job Captain Falcon. Not all of us can be prophesied vigilantes like you."

"That's beside the point Jody. It's about your brother."

"My brother?" Jody exclaims as she pulls out of the hood to look at Captain Falcon, "What can you possibly mean?"

"He's alive, Jody."

"How can you know? Have you seen him?"

"You have yourself, Jody; you just never knew it,", Captain Falcon says as he takes off his helmet.

"A-Andy?"

"Jody, I hope you can forgive me. I realized I would have to be the one to defeat Black Shadow, and I didn't want you to get hurt. I faked my death to protect you. If Black Shadow had found out about your connection to me… I would have never forgiven myself."

"Then why are you telling me now, Andy? Black Shadow is still at large."

"Because, Jody, I have a bad feeling about today. Something will happen that will change everything forever. I do not know what it is, but I could not go forward without letting you know I still live. I know I can't stop you from racing today, but please, be careful Jody."

"You too, Andy Summer, prophesied hero."

Captain Falcon placed his helmet back on his head and left the garage quietly. He only had a few minutes to the beginning of the race and he'd need to do some minor preparations in his Blue Falcon. After arriving in his own garage, he quickly set about pre-race maintenance and thought only the never ending dread sitting in his stomach. His only bright spot was that his sister would know his secret no matter what happened. The announcer came onto the intercom, telling racers to pull onto the track.

**Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins**

"Ladies and gentlemen! We have an excellent race for you today in the F-Zero Mute City Grand Prix! Jody Summer and her entire crew is out today, so watch out! Samurai Goroh and his lovely wife, Lisa Brilliant, are raring to go, winning it for their space pirate enterprises! Captain Falcon, the fan favorite, is here, ready to stop some of our other competitors, which brings me to- WHAT?! Folks, I'm being told the crime lord Black Shadow has become a late entry!"

Captain Falcon looked to indeed see Black Shadow in his Black Bull. This wasn't uncommon. One of the rules of the F-Zero races was that you guaranteed immunity from arrest and legal responsibilities while racing. Black Shadow could be seen here without having a government hit team taking him down. That's why Jody Summer's team was so important: it keeps the money from victory out of Black Shadow's hands. Captain Falcon turned back around and prepared for the race. If Black Shadow was here, this would not be such an easy race.

"And… they're off!" the announcer cried, but no one heard him for the crowd was screaming so loudly that even the futuristic speakers couldn't get above that sound level. If you've never seen an F-Zero race, it's hard to accurately explain. Imagine you are driving a car on a really fast highway. There are no lanes and twenty-nine other drivers are making moves you simply can't predict. The difference between that and F-Zero is instead of maybe 80 miles per hour, they go Mach 2 and instead of grass and guardrails on either side of the highway, there are rarely guardrails and nothing but the city below. People rarely die in such races due to the safety gear in the cars, but let's just say you aren't going to be the kind of person that crashes twice.

The first two laps were about as uneventful as an F-Zero race can be, and as our tale rather needs to get a move on from this exposition dump, I'll just skip them. Captain Falcon and Black Shadow were on the final lap, neck and neck.

"Black Shadow, give it up! The race, and the universe, will never be yours!" Captain Falcon roared.

Black Shadow laughed, showed a fanged smile, and responded, "I wouldn't be sure, Captain Falcon, or should I say Andy Summer? Yes, I know all about your little superhero antics and your precious sister. Suffice to say, the game is up. I already have something planned that I just know you'll love Summer. I-"

But Black Shadow never finished that thought because it was in that moment that the world came to an end. A dark void appeared in the sky and started sucking up the whole world.

"Black Shadow! What is the meaning of this? What unholy power have you unleashed?" Captain Falcon yelled, but Black Shadow looked just as startled as Captain Falcon was; this wasn't Black Shadow's doing. Jody Summer's vehicle, the White Cat, began to be engulfed by the the void. Captain Falcon watched as his sister's face went from determination to get away to utter horror that she couldn't get away. Captain Falcon bravely drove off the track onto a nearby skyscraper, and raced across the city to get to his sister. But it was too late: Captain Falcon witnessed the last moments of Jody Summer, powerless to stop the one thing he had dedicated his life to: protecting his sister. For the first time in many years, Captain Falcon broke down; he cried so endlessly he never noticed his fall into the void. All went dark.

**Chapter 3: Darkness Falls**

Captain Falcon came to in a plush bed, and he thought he was back home, that the race was a dream. He opened his eyes to see it wasn't his home, and it was all real. Captain Falcon once more began to tear up before a woman appearing older than time itself walked into the room.

"Welcome, Captain Falcon, chosen hero of the world of racing machines and, if my suspicions are correct, one of the Twelve Reborn. We have much to discuss. You may call me the Overseer of Worlds. My true name was lost long ago."

"What's the point, Overseer of Worlds? My sister, she's gone." Captain Falcon wailed.

"Dry your tears and hear my tale before you despair." Overseer of Worlds calmly replied.

This is what Captain Falcon was told, more or less. Bits of knowledge were added later, but I just added a complete collection of the story. In an era in which Darkness ruled all, there was nothing except an endless void of chaos. No one was alive for this so all we have is legends. One day, or whatever passed for days in this land, 13 Lights appeared. They thrust back the Darkness and gave birth to creation. Worlds came into being and these worlds were connected. It was a golden age with inhabitants of all worlds collaborating for a brighter future. The thirteen Lights became known as the Thirteen Sages. They ruled justly and kindly, keeping the peace between the worlds. But one day, one of the Thirteen Sages was tainted by Darkness. He saw the worlds as corrupt and thought that, they, the Sages, should rule over all of creation. When the other twelve denied him, he set out to create an army of the darkest individuals of each of the worlds. In an epic battle that was known as the First Battle, the sage was defeated, and sealed away. To keep people from honoring the fallen Sage's name, his name was made taboo and, by magic, the sage goes by no name other than Tabuu. The house that Captain Falcon now sat in was in The World Between the Worlds at the spot of Tabuu's defeat ages ago. The Twelve Sages knew that Tabuu would return and in their growing age, they wouldn't be able to stop him again. And so, they agreed to be reborn in new vessels scattered across the worlds when the time came for Tabuu's return. The Twelve Reborn was the name given to these chosen heroes. They also gave the Overseer of Worlds immortality to keep watch over the worlds while they were gone. The worlds were disconnected and people forgot about those in other worlds. Eons have passed and now Tabuu has returned. He targeted Captain Falcon's world, hoping to destroy you. Captain Falcon's powerful Soul, with its yearning for justice, protected him from the destruction that his world faced. F-Zero's world was gone and its inhabitants were now under the sway of Tabuu, in the strange borderlands of life and death. They remain prisoners and until Captain Falcon unites with the others and defeats Tabuu, he'll never see Jody Summer again.

"Captain Falcon, I believe you are one of the Twelve Reborn. Your journey has only begun, and you must travel the many worlds to gather the remaining eleven and gather an army besides. As the Overseer of Worlds, I can gift you and your allies the power to travel between all worlds. I have also gifted your Blue Falcon this same power so that you may call upon it whenever you have need. It will return here when you aren't using it. Are you ready?" asked the Overseer of Worlds.

Shakily, Captain Falcon stood up and said, "yes, I am ready. Which world do I visit first?"

"That I do not know, your powers will guide you to the place you need to be next. I suspect you will go to a world with lots of potential allies and another of the Twelve Reborn first. Take this as well: it's a copy of my notes on the worlds. Here, you'll find everything you need to know about any world you may visit." she said while handing Captain Falcon a large book.

"Thank you. How do I travel between worlds?"

"It's really as simple as a change in perspective. Close your eyes and imagine yourself traveling to a different world; when you open your eyes, you'll find yourself in the other world."

"Yes, ma'am," Captain Falcon mumbled as he closed his eyes and began to imagine another world.


	2. The Legend of Zelda World

** Hello again, when we last saw our intrepid hero, he saw his own world destroyed, but was given a great destiny to build an army and unite the Twelve Reborn by traveling the many worlds. Today, he visits his first world and gathers a great many allies...**

**Any comments are welcome, and if there is a series you'd like to be part of this adventure, though they aren't in Smash as playable, feel free to suggest them.**

**Chapter 4: The Sacred Kingdom**

Captain Falcon opened his eyes to find himself in a deep wood. Birds were chirping and he saw a deer run past. Seeing smoke in the distance, Captain Falcon set out for what seemed like a camper nearby. It took him quite a while as this wood was dark and thick. He stumbled upon on the campsite finally and saw a single youth, no more than 17 sitting by the fire silently. In a blaze of blinding light, Captain Falcon had a vision. He saw two men conversing in a chamber filled with thirteen seats, though only two were being sat on.

"Snilk, are you sure this will work? Wouldn't we be better off staying in our current bodies with our near immortality?"

"Like I told you Yands, Rismao has foretold that the future will not be kind for us and our true power will truly awaken with mortal bodies and mortal friends. What world have you chosen to inhabit?" said the one named Snilk

"The F-Zero world will likely be destroyed by the superhero-esque characters and lawlessness unless someone lives in it. I believe I will take that," replied Yands.

The vision passed, and though he did not know who Snilk, Yands, and Rismao were, he knew that the vision was critically important. It gave him the sense that the youth in front of him was one of the Twelve Reborn. Captain Falcon consulted his book and learned this was the Kingdom of Hyrule, a land holy to the gods of this world. It was destined to be continuously overrun by monsters in every era before a youth, garbed in green, and a princess, wise as she was beautiful, seal away the darkness in every era. The boy in front of him was undoubtedly the hero of the era, Link. Captain Falcon slowly approached in a peaceful gesture when he heard a rustling in the trees above. A strange figure dropped in front of him, boy or girl he could not tell, and striked a menacing pose.

"Who are you and what business do you have with the Hero of Twilight?" he/she/it screamed.

It (for that's what Captain Falcon decided to call him/her until a gender was decided) charged at him drawing a knife. Captain Falcon, being in many fights before, blocked with the heavy metal of his shoulderpads. He then backflipped out of danger and said, "I don't know who you are, but I mean you no harm!"

"How do I know you're not allied with Ganondorf?" it said suspiciously.

"My name is Captain Falcon, and I have no idea who this Ganondorf is. I come from…"

"Another world?"  
"W-what?"

"Here in Hyrule, we get visitors from other worlds a lot in our darkest times, which this definitely is. Come, let us go to Link. Midna, you may come out."

As they approached, a strange imp popped seemingly out of Link's shadow with a sarcastic smile and exuding an attitude of snarkiness.

"Please, me worried about this clown? What is up with this get-up?" said the creature seemingly called Midna.

"I-" Captain Falcon began to say.

"Halt, there is no time for that. I sense this… Captain Falcon has come from another world to help us in our fight against Ganondorf. I suppose I must introduce the others. You seem to recognize Link, that's his partner - also from another world - Midna, and you may call me Sheik. Ganondorf is a man, born of evil. He is reborn endlessly to terrorize Hyrule, and we are destined to defeat him. However, he has taken over Hyrule, darkness covers most of the country and Link has had to lift the shadows from the kingdom. Tomorrow, we will set out for Hyrule Castle where the final battle will take place… Either we seal him away, or Hyrule falls to his rule… forever." Sheik stated.

"Well, Sheik, my past is long and hard, but I've come for your hero. I believe that he's someone I'm looking for. He seems to be a… member of group called the Twelve Reborn." Captain Falcon said slowly.  
"Geez, Link. What aren't you chosen for? Next you'll tell me you're an actual god or something." Midna chuckled.

"I do hope you can lend us your strength Captain Falcon. I believe this battle will be much more difficult than those in ages past." Sheik lamented.

"I'll do my best, though I fight barehanded, " Captain Falcon replied.

"But you seem to have a weapon there on your belt, silly," Midna teased.

"This… this will not be used. I swore that I would never use that weapon until the day I reach my destiny." Captain Falcon sighed.

"I understand. Your past must have been harsh. I can't offer you much as our kingdom is ruins, but Hyrule will thank you for your service." Sheik said.

"Anyways, I've noticed Link hasn't talked. Is he just shy?" Captain Falcon asked.

"No, he's just mute. It's one of his most redeeming qualities," Midna commented with a smile.

"That's normal. I've never heard of a chosen hero that can speak. Maybe it's part of his rebirth?" Zelda wondered.

"We better get rest. If this 'Ganondorf' is as powerful as you claim he is, the battle will be difficult," Captain Falcon yawned.

Everyone laid down on the soft grass and fell asleep to the noises of the forest and the glittery display of the country stars. It was the kind of sleep everyone ought to get, but never does.

**Chapter 5: The Journey**

The four rose early next morning with the sun. Everyone was surprisingly well rested and cheerful despite the fight ahead of them. They wandered through many fields filled with cows and crossed many streams bursting with fish. It was a kingdom that seemed blessed to have everything a prosperous people could have a need for. Captain Falcon was impressed by the land, and wondered how it could possibly be ruled by an evil king. The world was so peaceful, so wonderful. They talked endlessly about nothing in particular and increasingly learned to trust each other and like each other's company. They were sitting down for lunch when Sheik was explaining the Triforce and the nature of Ganondorf's power.

"So the Triforce was left by the goddesses and are essentially unlimited in power. Ganondorf claims one third of that power, Link claims another third, and the third, Princess Zelda, claims the final third, though we do not know where she is." Sheik explained.

"So we're fighting against the power of gods? How do we stand a chance?" Captain Falcon asked incredulously.

"Yeah, only Link has godly powers," Midna said with a wink.

"Regardless, we have to face Ganondorf. Link has the Master Sword, he's claimed his mantle, and now with Captain Falcon's help, I'm sure the time is right."

"I'll do what I can, but I'm just a racer nowadays. I think Link will be doing the heavy lifting." Captain Falcon said while Link looked away.

"We need a plan. Obviously, Midna will have to use the magic of the Twila to destroy the barrier around Hyrule Castle. But who knows how many monsters are inside Hyrule Castle now… I'd also bet anything Ganondorf resides in the tallest tower. We'd have to go through a horde of monsters to reach them. " Sheik mused.

"Well, what do we have to defeat such a powerful army? Do we have a massive explosive laying around or something?" Midna teased.

"I can summon the power of the Light Spirits to destroy those monsters, but such magic would need to be done from the top of the tower… we're in a catch-22…" Sheik pointed out.

"I… might have a solution. I have this… machine that can run up walls at incredibly fast speeds. I can race you up there to complete the magic and then bring you back down to storm the castle with the other two." Captain Falcon explained.

"That might work." Sheik said thoughtfully.

"How far are we from the Castle, wise one?" Midna giggled.

"An hours walk, most. We should start expecting to see monsters. Stay close." Sheik said deadly serious.

And with that, everyone sobered up and finished lunch in peace. They began to walk towards the Castle that could barely be seen in the distance. All the while, a disturbing thought crept into the minds of Captain Falcon, Link, and Midna. How could they defeat Ganondorf without the chosen princess, Zelda? No one knew where the princess fled to after Ganondorf took over; that is, no one except Sheik…

**Chapter 6: The Triforce Unites**

The towers and keeps of Hyrule Castle soared over the heads of our heroes. One could almost feel the darkness coming off from the tallest tower. They all exchanged a meaningful look, knowing this might be it. Midna pulled a strange pieces of a mask and they began to swirl around her. Captain Falcon couldn't recognize any of their designs, but they seemed to radiate a power he simply could not understand. They closed around Midna's face and she began to transform. She grew spider-like legs that seemed to be made of pure energy. A spear appeared in her hand, and the power seemed to grow. Throwing her spear like a javelin, Midna attacked the barrier. The barrier shattered like grass upon impact and the shards faded away to nothingness. A battle horn could be heard inside the castle walls, and Captain Falcon and Sheik prepared for the next phase.

"Blue Falcon!" Captain Falcon called. The Blue Falcon blasted out of a portal and stopped in front of Sheik and Captain Falcon. If Sheik was surprised, she never showed it. They both hopped into the vehicle, and displaying his years of mastery, Captain Falcon tore off and up the walls of Hyrule Castle. It was only moments before they had reached the top of Hyrule Castle. Sheik breathed deeply.

"Ordona, Faron, Eldin, Lanayru, Spirits of Light, guardians of Hyrule… give onto me the power to dispel the dark armies from this Castle!" Sheik declared. She raised her hand high, and four glowing balls of light appeared. They fired beams onto the Castle below, defeating all the monsters before they ever reached Link or Midna. Captain Falcon drove them back down and the Blue Falcon disappeared. Nobody said it, but they knew that the time had come. Either they would all be destroyed or they would save Hyrule. The final battle was at hand. They exchanged resolute looks and entered the castle.

The Castle seemed imposing on the outside, but it seemed much more so on the inside. The rooms were filled with rich furniture that seemed almost otherworldly. No one mortal could possibly be allowed to use this furniture, right? Everything seemed bright and cheerful: the dining room even had a scrumptious dinner set upon it. However, maybe it was the lack of people, but the whole scene felt wrong. Just by looking into any given room, someone could almost hear the movement of servants, the rumble of laughter by guests, and the fire crackling in the fireplace. The lack of noise just made it more and more eerie. At one point, they entered what appeared to be the bedroom for a top servant that was covered with pictures of eyes with long tears, and Sheik seemed overcome with emotion.

As they approached the top, it seemed to become less cheery and more… sinister. It was subtle at first, a table might be flipped over or a sword mark might be in the wall. But soon, signs of a real struggle began to show. Furniture was all over the place, the walls were destroyed, rusty weapons were strewn about the floor. They never found any bodies, but that almost made it worse. At least bodies would have made this seem more natural. The lack of people made it seem like something more horrible than words occurred here. The worst thing was that it all seemed recent. The capture of Hyrule Castle had happened six months ago according to Sheik, so why was there a fire still burning in a guest bedroom? Why were the cook's tools still out and not at all rusted or dusty? Why were there no rats or rodents? The castle seemed ripped out of time. Finally, they come upon a huge door.

"Beyond this door lies the tallest room of the castle… and the throne room. Ganondorf must be in there. " Sheik breathed.

"Then we must enter," Captain Falcon calmly responded.

"Are you ready, Hero?" Midna asked with the tiniest bit of a smile.

Link nodded, and they headed inside. I wish I could explain the opulence of this room, but the written word completely fails to describe its beauty. Constructed and added upon over millennia, this throne room was a testament to the history of Hyrule. Countless kings and queens ruled and held court here, and one could just feel the history in the air. All around, the walls were decorated with elaborate murals, tapestries, and sculptures of Hyrule's history. The room was enormous, about 100 meters long. The ceiling was so high that the room almost seemed to open up to the heavens. At the end of the hall, there was a single large throne. Upon it sat a tall man with red hair, dark skin, and a face that embodied evil. He laughed and stood up.

"Welcome to my castle, Link, Sheik, Midna, and the one I'm told is called Captain Falcon. I believe you are here to defeat me, the great Ganondorf?" Ganondorf said softly.

"You act surprised," Midna retorted.

"Surprised at your foolishness perhaps. You are well aware of my power, and yet here you come into my grasp." Ganondorf explained.

"It doesn't matter if we fall here. Princess Zelda is still out there, so even if we fall, you do not have the complete Triforce," Captain Falcon said confidently.

"So you claim, but I think Sheik here can tell you something different. Look at your hand, 'Hero'. Notice the glowing? The Triforce, the complete set, is here in this room," Ganondorf pridefully exclaimed.

Everyone stared incredulously at Link and Ganondorf's hands. The Triforce marks were growing brighter by the second. It was so bright, that it took a bit for everyone to notice a third light: one that was coming from Sheik's hand.

"Princess Zelda… did you really think you could hide from me? Your ancestor pulled the same trick. But now it's time to begin the next phase of my plan, Zelda. I shall separate your divine power from you!" Ganondorf yelled as he thrust out his hand.

A wave of darkness shot out and overcame Sheik, now revealed as Zelda. Within moments, Sheik/Zelda was overcome with black clouds. The others ran to her side but the clouds prevented them from reaching her. Painful screams came from within the darkness. Screams that would freeze the blood of any that heard it and would haunt Link for the remainder of his life. Make no mistake, these were death wails. After what seemed like eternity, the darkness dissipated. The Triforce shard went to Ganondorf and what was left was… Zelda _and_ Sheik. Neither seemed to move.

"Now, for you Link" Ganondorf said with a deadly sense of calm.

He thrust his hand out again, but Link's hand began to glow. For a moment, everyone caught a whiff of a sea air and then that of a deep meadow. When the blinding light subsided, there was no longer just one Link. The Link they had been traveling with stood in the center; a Link that seemed to come straight out of a cartoon stood on his left; on his right, a Link that was much younger, yet with the eyes of a very experienced warrior was ready for battle. Though these heroes did not do so at the time, these other two would be called Toon Link and Young Link, respectively and they were called from different eras and universes to defend this Link by the Triforce. The three Links drew their blades and steadfastly stood facing Ganondorf shoulder to shoulder, ready to defeat Ganondorf. Midna stayed behind to protect Zelda and Sheik. Captain Falcon walked forward to stand with the Links.

"So… the goddesses see fit to provide me one last challenge to my rule. So be it." Ganondorf chuckled.

Ganondorf strode over to the four and along the way, summoned dual blades of light into his hands. The four tensed and charged at Ganondorf. The three Links felt their swords clang and Captain Falcon's punch to the gut was blocked. Ganondorf quickly went on the offensive, weaving a web of sword strokes that was only prevented from being a disaster by the Links' shields and Captain Falcon's great agility and reflexes. Ganondorf kept pushing them back, closer to where Zelda and the others were at. The Links and Captain Falcon began to feel weariness in their limbs. Ganondorf had them on the ropes within moments. A few more strikes and Hyrule would be done for…

But then something magical happened. The Links and Captain Falcon had a vision: people and places from across the land of Hyrule. Faces they never knew and yet seemed to be cheering them on. They never heard the words, yet they knew that each of them was more than wishing them luck, they were gifting their powers. In that moment, all four of them seemed to work with one mind in four bodies. They quickly deflected Ganondorf's swords and formed their own web of destruction. Ganondorf put up a valiant fight, but the four pushed him back towards the throne, step by step. It was Ganondorf's defenses that began to weaken until Captain Falcon saw an opening and blasted a fire-engulfed punch straight into Ganondorf's chest, launching him far back. The Triforce marks on the three Links glowed brightly and Ganondorf became encased in a golden Triforce. The Links shot forward, dealing blow after blow. It was so fast and deadly that any normal person wouldn't survive a moment in that meat grinder. Dealing one final blow, the Link's cut down Ganondorf where he stood, though he still lived.

Zelda and Sheik began to stir. They noticed each other and then Ganondorf lying on the ground. Zelda raised her hand and called her shard of the Triforce back to her. Using her Triforce, Zelda and Sheik created a void within the Triforce for Ganondorf to be sealed in. It took only a moment and, though Ganondorf fought, the King of Evil was soon gone from this world. The sun began to set and filled the room with rosy twilight. There was a tense moment, then laughter. Booming, endlessly joyous laughter. It didn't matter that the time-space continuum was broken with three Links, it didn't matter that Zelda was two people now, and it didn't matter that there were two visitors from other worlds. They were thrilled to be alive and to save a kingdom from destruction.

After what may have been ages or merely a few moments, the laughter began to die down. The severity of the situation began to dawn on them. Their kingdom would have to be rebuilt, Zelda would have to be reunited, the other Links would have to be returned, and Midna and Captain Falcon would need to be return whence they came. The hard work had only begun. And thinking these dark thoughts, something off in the distance happened. The dark void from the F-Zero world appeared and began to destroy Hyrule. No one noticed it at first, but soon it had destroyed half the kingdom in but a few moments.

"Oh no, not again!" Captain Falcon shouted.

"What… is that Captain Falcon?" Zelda shrieked.

"It's a dark void. It'll destroy Hyrule!" Captain Falcon explained,

"How do we stop it?" Sheik asked.

"We… we don't. We have to escape this world and stop the cause. That's why I came here. To gather allies to stop that and its leader." Captain Falcon said sorrowfully.

"Well, we better get a move on," remarked Midna.

"Everyone, grab onto me. I can transfer us out of this world, but we need to be in physical contact. Make sure each of you are touching me." Captain Falcon said as the void got closer.

Everyone grabbed on Captain Falcon and he closed his eyes and imagined the World Between the Worlds. It was with a pang of his stomach he heard Zelda scream something in deep sadness and felt Midna's hand slip away.


	3. The Sonic the Hedgehog World

**Hey, sorry for the long break in chapters. I came down with a bad cold and I just didn't feel up to writing. To make up for it, here's an extra long chapter today. Remember that feedback is welcome and that any universe can be suggested. **

**When we last left Captain Falcon, he visited the Kingdom of Hyrule and helped the hero and princess of legend defeat the evil Ganondorf and saved Hyrule. Unfortunately, the kingdom was subsequently destroyed. Now we join our heroes on a new journey to save the universes.**

**Chapter 7: Regrouping**

"I see you've returned Captain Falcon, and you've brought friends. I think we have much to discuss," the Overseer of Worlds said softly.

"W-where's Midna?" Zelda asked shakily.

"I'm sorry to say that Midna fell into Tabuu's control, young one."

"We'll get her back Zelda… that's weird to say. I don't know who you are ma'am, but I hope you have answers. Who is this Tabuu?" Sheik stated.

"You may call me the Overseer of Worlds. I have no solid answers, only hunches, but those I will share gladly. First, I'm sorry to say that all those in Hyrule have fallen to the strength of Tabuu. Only you four and Ganondorf, who still resides in your Triforce of Wisdom, Zelda, remain from that kingdom.

You ask who is Tabuu. I would share with you the full legend, but I fear we lack the time. If the attack of Hyrule means anything, Tabuu is speeding up his timetable. He cannot be happy that Captain Falcon managed to save another of the Twelve Reborn, let alone gain so many powerful allies so fast. You must act fast to reach the other worlds and unite the heroes and villains who will make up your army.

But now we must discuss something strange. Zelda and Sheik, once one Soul, one body, are now two. I believe that when Ganondorf tried to separate you from your Triforce, something magical happened to your body. You split to represent the divinity you straddle. Zelda represents her divine form and Sheik her mortal form. Such magical trauma is difficult to reverse, and I lack the magical prowess in my old age to repair that. Such magic might be able to be channeled when the Twelve Reborn are gathered.

That brings us to our three Links. I'm not an expert on the Triforce. Alas, if only the Hero's Shade had survived the attack, he'd be able to give us a satisfying answer. As it stands, my guess is that the Triforce of Courage Link holds recognized the danger he was in and called across time and worlds to bring us these two other Links. I saw that they played major roles in that battle, and I predict that when the time comes, they will again lend their strength. That said, I believe only the Link of the current time period is one of the Twelve Reborn. They all possess the spirit of the hero, but only Link here possesses the reborn Soul of Snilk. Young Link and Toon Link, as I suggest we call them, are only here to aid in the fight. I also have one more gift for the three Links. I'm aware that they cannot speak. This was decreed long ago that Link may never speak as a result of being chosen for such a great destiny. It was to balance him. I believe drastic times call for drastic measures, so I temporarily grant the heroes of Hyrule the ability to speak to make communication easier.

Though you all had great synergy in that battle for Hyrule, I believe it is time for all of you to split up. I suggest Captain Falcon goes it alone from here, Zelda and Young Link team up, Sheik and Toon Link, and Link and Ganondorf-" The Overseer of Worlds monologued.

"No, you can't be serious!" Link exclaimed.

"Yeah, he's destroyed Hyrule countless times," Young Link pointed out.

"Let him remain sealed away," Toon Link begged.

"I believe I see why you say this Overseer of Worlds. Ganondorf can be an incredibly powerful ally in the fight against Tabuu, and he might be willing to help us since he's as doomed as us if he doesn't," Zelda contemplated.

"Exactly," the Overseer of Worlds beamed.

"Will you release him Zelda?" Sheik inquired.

"I'm inclined to say no, but a princess must put her people first. If he can help save my kingdom, I'll work with him." Zelda sighed.

Zelda raised her hands and a golden triangle appeared. Within it was a tiny black speck. The triangle began to spin and the speck grew larger. Soon, the speck began to take on the shape of Ganondorf and when it had reached the size of a man, the triangle disappeared and Ganondorf stood in front of them.

"I see you've set to free me, princess, but why?" Ganondorf asked not at all disoriented.

"So you need my power?" Ganondorf questioned after the Overseer of Worlds explained her story.

"As much as I hate it Ganondorf, yes," Link said resigned.

"This will be a dangerous mission," Captain Falcon explained.

"I despise working with you as well, but for… the chance to rule over Hyrule once more… I'll join you in your fight against Tabuu." Ganondorf said slowly.

"Good. I've gifted you each the power to travel between the worlds and those you travel with once that self-same power as well. I've also gifted you each the same book I've given Captain Falcon. From now on, it'll replicate when you get new allies. Good luck," the Overseer of Worlds wished.

The teams paired up, closed their eyes, and traveled to different worlds.

**Chapter 8: Running Free**

Captain Falcon opened his eyes to find himself in a tropical paradise. Everything was stunningly, blindingly green. Palm trees swayed peacefully and the hills rolled with subtle curves. The woodland animals, though bigger than those he was used to, were wandering around the area calmly, as if they had never had to fear for anything. It was the kind of place everyone dreamed of visiting. Captain Falcon decided to take a moment, just a moment, to take in the scenery and breathe the clean air. In his moment of peace, the animal pricked up their ears and Captain Falcon, too, did hear something approaching… fast. Before he could react, something resembling… a blue blur (for how else could you describe something so fast?) came to a screeching halt in front of him.

"Woah, don't stand in the road, bud!" the strange… hedgehog(?) said.

"W-who are you?" Captain Falcon asked.

"The name's Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog, fastest thing alive you know," Sonic responded.

Captain Falcon consulted his book. He learned that this was the world of Sonic the Hedgehog, a blue hedgehog, that constantly clashed with an evil scientist that went by many names, though he seemed to prefer being called Dr. Eggman these days. The place he stood in now must be the place called Green Hill Zone, Sonic's stomping ground. Though Sonic was by far the fastest, all inhabitants of this world were known for incredible speed.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, I don't know you. Let's just say I come from very far away. But if I met you, then that means I need your help and you need mine," Captain Falcon explained.

"Well, Egg Supreme is up to something again. Tails was supposed to give me the details, but…" Sonic started, but right as he mentioned Tails, a fox with yellow fur, an innocent face, and two tails came flying up, tablet in hand.

"Sonic! We have a major issue! Dr. Eggman has built a bunch of giant mechs and he's even rebuilt the Death Egg! Our forces are gathering in Sunset Heights, and we've sent out forces to gather the Chaos Emeralds." Tails exclaimed.

"How many times has he rebuilt that hunk of metal? Guess I gotta do some demolition work. Can you keep up with my speed, stranger?" Sonic asked.

"I'm called Captain Falcon, and yes, I can with my vehicle… the Blue Falcon!" Captain Falcon yelled.

The Blue Falcon blasted through the portal and stopped right by Captain Falcon. Tails gave a squeal of delight and flew up to the car, opening its hood.

"Wow! A G-Diffuser system! But there are only a few prototypes in the whole world, and none of them work. How did you get this?" Tails asked excitedly.

"Let's just say my line of work requires good transportation." Captain Falcon responded.

"What does this all mean, little bud?" Sonic wondered.

"It means he'll be able to keep up with even you, Sonic." Tails explained.

"Impressive. Hmmm…. How about a race, Captain Falcon? Last one to our base of operations is a rotten Eggman! Tails will send you the coordinates." Sonic challenged.

"You're on, Sonic!" Captain Falcon responded.

And so they ran off towards the base, careless and free.

**Chapter 9: A Date With Destiny**

Captain Falcon hadn't felt this good in years. Sure, he's gone this fast numerous times before, but between keeping tabs on his sister, thwarting Black Shadow, and otherwise worrying about his destiny, he had forgotten about the thrill of racing. There was never time for him to truly enjoy himself, something he was doing now. Captain Falcon was blasting through a lush paradise at high speed with nothing clouding his mind. He felt free, he felt clear. Fate could throw anything at him, and Captain Falcon would face it.

"Looking good, Captain Falcon, but can you do this?" Sonic asked, and performed the famous spin dash to launch off a ramp and perform a series of complex jumps off passing walls and random badniks to an amazing landing next to the Blue Falcon.

"Maybe not exactly that, but… Boost… FIRE!" Captain Falcon screamed.

Captain Falcon thrust forward a lever on his machine and the car went into a massive spinning motion that increased his speed. He proceed to launch off a ramp and perform a series of similar platforming maneuvers to land next to Sonic. From there, they had a contest. Each tried progressively more and more difficult moves to try and outdo each other, laughing at each other's successes. Tails flew behind them, cheering them on and providing directions when necessary. Soon, the scenery changed slightly, and the greenery and palm trees became sparser and they came upon a bridge that led into a city. But that's when a robot, nearly identical to Sonic, came up next to them.

"Metal? Why do you always come up at bad times?" Sonic sighed.

Metal Sonic, as pretty much anyone could guess that was its name, fired rockets at the three, and though all missed, it forced them to lose time. They needed to get to base quick so that they could counter Dr. Eggman.

"Sonic, this bridge could collapse if we don't stop Metal's attack!" Tails warned.

"But we need to get to base, Tails!" Sonic countered.

"I have an idea. It's called the Sandwich Boost. With it, you two can go on ahead and prepare the forces. I'll stay back and deal with Metal," Captain Falcon explained.

"How does it work?" Tails inquired.

"Metal is going to ram into you from the side in exactly eight seconds from now based on my analysis of his computer programming. I'm going to ram into you from the other. That'll create a draft that'll give you a huge boost, get ready!" Captain Falcon explained.

Right on cue, Metal Sonic tried to ram into Sonic and Tails from the left. Captain Falcon swerved to his left and completed the draft of wind. Sonic and Tails shot forward so fast Metal Sonic and Captain Falcon looked like they were standing still. That just left Captain Falcon alone with Metal Sonic. They were about halfway across the bridge: Captain Falcon had to stop Metal Sonic from reaching the city, or civilians might suffer. He deftly rammed into Metal Sonic, taking out his high speed blasters. Metal wouldn't be flying off anymore; he'd have to stay and fight. Metal Sonic again used his lasers, badly damaging the Blue Falcon. Captain Falcon jumped off a flipped over car and landed directly on Metal Sonic for more damage, but Metal Sonic then fired a missile at the Blue Falcon. Captain Falcon ejected and launched himself at Metal Sonic.

"Falcon…. PUNCH!" Captain Falcon attempted to unleash a fiery punch at Metal Sonic, but time froze.

"Foolish Captain Falcon, one of the Twelve Reborn. Tell me, why do you still fight, Yands? Your world is gone, your destiny annulled, your sister mine." Metal Sonic spoke, with the voice of an old man.

Still frozen in air, Captain Falcon was able to respond, "T-Tabuu? I-I will never stop fighting, not until Jody is safe."

"Heh heh hahahahaha, I'll grant you a deal, Captain Falcon. Give up your foolish quest to defeat me, and I will let you and your sister live out under my rule in the world I will create."

"Never! I will return to Mute City, with my sister, and I will defeat you Tabuu! Now unfreeze time so I can destroy your vessel!"

"Very well, I'll be coming for this world soon anyhow. And your mission has no chance of success. You have too many worlds to visit in too little time."

Time unfroze. The punch connected, and Metal Sonic dropped to the ground, made a few sad noises, and moved no more. Captain Falcon climbed into his critically damaged Blue Falcon and followed the directions Tails gave him and drove to the base.

**Chapter 10: The Master Plan**

Captain Falcon got to the meeting just in time. A bunch of mechanics took his Blue Falcon and began to make repairs while he went into the meeting. Inside, there were quite a few people, including Tails and Sonic. There was a pink hedgehog that was brandishing a hammer and a fierce personality that told Captain Falcon that he didn't want to mess with her. From the conversation, he guessed her name was Amy. There was also a black hedgehog with red highlights. He had shoes that seemed to have rocket or hover technology, and he bore a striking resemblance to Sonic, minus the coloring. His name appeared to be Shadow. Finally, at the head, stood a red echidna with spiked hands and a gruff attitude: a born leader. Everyone was calling him Knuckles; Captain Falcon couldn't tell if that was a nickname.

"Tails' idea to stick the Chaos Emeralds in a secure location after the last battle with Eggman worked. Blaze, Silver, and the others are bringing them here as we speak," Amy reported.

"Good to know, Amy. Now, our city is so far safe from attacks, but Eggman's mechs are beginning to rally at the entry points. They'll be on our positions within 24 hours," Knuckles explained.

"Any word on what his plan might be?" Shadow asked.

"Does it matter? All I know is I gotta wreck some mechs!" Sonic retorted.

"Actually, it does. Sonic, I relished our race earlier, but we need to act fast." Captain Falcon said as he finally stepped out of the doorway into the room.

"Oh, everyone, this is Captain Falcon! He's here to help us out," Tails offered.

"Strange to work with a human, but welcome aboard Captain Falcon," Knuckles politely responded.

"I have to tell everyone something. It's a long story, but we're all in terrible danger. It all started after Sonic and Tails left while I took care of Metal Sonic," Captain Falcon opened up, and told everyone everything: his world's destruction, Tabuu, and his journey here.

"You expect us to believe that?" Shadow asked incredulously.

"It's no stranger than what we've seen coming from Eggman before," Amy countered.

"Well, I appreciate the warning, Captain Falcon, but I'm afraid that we can't be bothered with this 'Tabuu' right now. Even if the world was about to be destroyed, we have Eggman preparing to launch on civilians. No, we defeat Dr. Eggman, and then we worry about Tabuu," Knuckles said resolutely.

"But-" Captain Falcon started.

"I know you're worried about us, Captain Falcon, but help us beat Dr. Eggman," Tails interrupted.

"Responding to his plans, Rouge was able to gather some intel," Amy began.

"Let's hear it," Knuckles commanded.

"Dr. Eggman apparently wants to open up portals to other "worlds" using the Chaos Emeralds. That's why the mechs are here. They're trying to take back the Chaos Emeralds, and the Death Egg will use its laser to open these portals all across the planet. He'll summon legions of monsters from other worlds. Only he will be able to stop it, forcing us to submit to his rule," Amy explained.

"That's no good for us," Sonic said.

"We have to shut down the Death Egg to stand a chance," Shadow offered.

"Well then what's our plan?" Knuckles opened the floor.

"This sounds awfully like the Dark Matter Reactor of my world. I believe I have an idea. Shadow, Sonic, and I will head up to the Death Egg to confront Dr. Eggman. Tails will provide air support for our fight there, and Amy and Knuckles will stay here to defend the city and give us intel." Captain Falcon offered.

"Do we have the Chaos Emeralds?" Tails asked.

"Yes, Blaze and her time retrieved them just a few moments ago," Amy answered.

"Good, then let's get moving! When I start going, Egg Head won't be able to stop me!" Sonic cheered.

**Chapter 11: The Chaos Emeralds**

It was a long flight to the Death Egg. Tails had offered to take them on the Tornado, his ship, but that wasn't big enough to hold four people. They commandeered an old Eggman carrier they had captured in an earlier battle and took off for the battle. Sonic was being the goofball he normally is and Shadow was staring gruff at one of the Chaos Emeralds. Captain Falcon thought to himself how bizarre this whole situation was. Here he was talking to two sentient hedgehogs. They could seemingly draw power from jewels of all things. But then he considered his own world. His world, full of sound barrier breaking machines, magical engines, and supervillains, might seem weird to these hedgehogs.

"So why did you decide to help out Shadow?" Sonic asked with a grin.

"It's for… her. I've been searching for more about her, trying to find out more about our past together. I had a vision from her. She said that I would learn everything I would need to know if I came to defeat Dr. Eggman here. This isn't to help you." Shadow responded.

The crew sat in silence once more. The Death Egg slowly grew from a speck to a menacing orb with the slightly off look with a mustachioed face on its outside. That, Captain Falcon figured, must be Dr. Eggman. Something felt off… why weren't they being attacked yet? Dr. Eggman was letting them fly straight into his airspace and nothing… Captain Falcon had a startling thought and cast his eyes across the inner workings of the vehicle and strained his ears. Then, the telltale beat. Dr. Eggman didn't have to worry: a remote explosive was placed inside these vehicles so he could detonate them if his opposition tried to use it to get to his base. Captain Falcon ran his fingers over it. He judged its receiver could pick up the signal about… 100 yards away.

"How far are we from the Death Egg?" Captain Falcon asked silently.

"I think about 130 yards and closing." Shadow replied puzzled.

"Get out of the plane!" Captain Falcon yelled and grabbed the two and jumped out.

Behind them, the plane exploded. They were lucky enough to be pulled in by gravity towards the Death Egg.

"Blue Falcon!" Captain Falcon called.

The Blue Falcon flew out of space and Captain Falcon jumped in, pulling the two with him. They landed (or rather hovered) on the surface of the Death Egg. Captain Falcon immediately set a course for the nearest entrance into the Death Egg. He didn't know about the two hedgehogs, but he could not breathe in outer space and the Blue Falcon could only maintain life support for so long. He quickly found the needed entrance and jumped out of the Blue Falcon.

"That was a close one!" Sonic exclaimed.

"How did you know it was going to blow?" Shadow asked.

"I've had a lot of attempts at my life, and Dr. Eggman not attacking us felt obviously strange," Captain Falcon explained.

"Hoo hoo! I see you've made into my Death Egg Sonic and Shadow! You and your friend are too late! My Death Egg is at full power and I will launch the full might of otherworldly monsters immediately! You can't possibly stop me Sonic!" Dr. Eggman's voice boomed over the loudspeakers.

"Looks like I need to scramble some eggs!" Sonic excitedly said.

"But what about Captain Falcon? He can't use the power of the Chaos Emeralds and even if he could, we'd never reach Eggman's control room in time," Shadow reasoned.

"That's simple. You two, use your Chaos Emeralds and hold back the beams. I'll head off to the control room on my own to take on Eggman," Captain Falcon offered.

"Seems like it could work…" Shadow thought out loud.

"Good luck bud!" Sonic responded.

With that, Sonic and Shadow stood shoulder to shoulder. Seven glowing gems circled around them. Within moments, the gems disappeared and Sonic and Shadow turned golden. Captain Falcon could feel the intense power coming off them and waved them off as they flew back outside to block the planet from the lasers. Captain Falcon then turned and ran off to the control room; Tails had sent coordinates to the room on the flight here. The Death Egg was truly strange, filled with insane contraptions and robots that Captain Falcon had to defeat a couple of on his way. Whoever had built this must have been a genius, a mastermind, a mechanic to rival all others…

And he was huge. Captain Falcon ran into the control room to see a large man with a bushy mustache, glasses, and a horrible red suit. This was the mastermind behind this horrible plan?

"Ho ho h- eh? How did you get in here? And who are you?" Dr. Eggman asked.

"I'm Captain Falcon, I come from another world, and I've come to totally destroy you, Dr. Eggman," Captain Falcon answered.

"You're too late! Already, the power of the Chaos Emeralds are failing Sonic and Shadow, and my lasers will open an army that cannot be stopped!" Eggman chortled.

"Not unless I stop your machine," Captain Falcon calmly pointed out.

"Even if I were to let you have access to my computer, it is blocked by a password; you could never crack it and command it to stop the lasers in time," Dr. Eggman countered.

"Who said anything about using the computer?" Captain Falcon said.

With that, Captain Falcon charged forward, and smacked Eggman away from the controls. In rapid succession, he dealt a series of blows with flames woven in between that made scrap metal of the computer within moments. Looking out the window at Sonic and Shadow, he saw the lasers weaken and finally disappear. Eggman screamed in annoyance and hopped into a hovercar of sorts, flying away.

"Good work, Captain Falcon!" Sonic said as he flew in.

"Dr. Eggman got away," Shadow countered.

"Not yet he hasn't. He went to the observation deck judging by his direction. We might be able to head him off there," Captain Falcon said.

The three tore off to the observation deck. Of course, Sonic and Shadow held back on their own speed as Captain Falcon could not even come close to keeping up with them at max speed in Super form. They finally arrived in the observation deck. It was a wide, clean room with a glass ceiling that opened up to space itself. All three of them were stunned by the endless white. They were starting to wonder where Dr. Eggman had went when the floor began to open up. Out of the hole came a signature Eggman mech. It was tall, with antlers, lithe and speedy legs, and rockets everywhere.

"Ho ho ho! Let me introduce you to my latest invention, Sonic, Shadow, and Captain Falcon! This is the Egg Stag and it will be your demise," Dr. Eggman blustered.

"A surprise for me, Eggman? You can imagine how Egg Stag-tic I'll be to wreck it!" Sonic punned horribly.

"Never do that again," Shadow groaned.

"Enough talk, let's destroy this… Blue Falcon!" Captain Falcon screamed.

And so they charged. And Dr. Eggman fired. His Egg Stag charged with electrical attacks, sliced at them with his antlers, and launched missiles, but Super Sonic and Shadow were impervious, obviously. And, of course, the Blue Falcon was now more armored with Tails' ingenuity. Dr. Eggman got a few hits in, but it was becoming clear the battle was in the heroes' favor.

"You should know better than to challenge us Eggman, for I am Shadow, the ultimate life form," Shadow called.

"I'm Captain Falcon, one of the Twelve Reborn," Captain Falcon continued.

"And I am Sonic the Hedgehog, the fastest thing alive and your foil, Egg Head!"

With that, Sonic, Shadow, and Captain Falcon all charged into the Egg Stag, utter destroying it and sending Dr. Eggman flying back to the planet below. They stood for a moment, then a ringing came in on the intercom.

"Sonic, we have an emergency!" Tails screamed.

"What's wrong?" Captain Falcon asked with a sinking feeling in his heart.

"A-a massive black void appeared in the sky just now and has sucked in half a battalio-" Knuckles said before he was cut off.

"T-they just got Knuckles. His command post was really close to the void," Amy hollowly said.

"Black void?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know Sonic, but we need-" Amy began before being destroyed.

"Sonic help-" Tails was too destroyed.

"This what I warned you about, Sonic. Tabuu is taking over your world," Captain Falcon explained as the void grew large enough to be seen from the Death Egg.

"Is there anything we can do to stop it?" Shadow wondered.

"Nothing. You must join me on my journey to defeat Tabuu and release your friends from the being's grasp," Captain Falcon responded.

"I gotta try. I'll just fly there an-" Sonic began.

"No Sonic, I'll go. You go with Captain Falcon to other worlds and build his army," Shadow interrupted.

"B-but Shadow, you may not come back!" Sonic exclaimed.

"You don't understand. I understand the vision now; I understand Maria's wishes. She wants me to never forget her, yes; however, she also wants me to move on and protect those important to me now. You and I may never have gotten along perfectly, Sonic, but those people down there are my friends just as much as they were yours. I'll go down, and you go give Tabuu hell for me," Shadow jumped through the broken glass down into the world below.

"Shadow…" Sonic began to wail.

"We have to go Sonic, the void will be here any second," Captain Falcon said as he grabbed Sonic's hand.

They both closed their eyes and imagined another world.


	4. The Prince of Persia World

**Wow, I need a better upload schedule lol. I'm sorry this took so very long, folks, but I've come with a new world. This is the first world of several that isn't in Smash. I've always loved the Prince of Persia series and I feel like the Prince will bring a lot to the table in this battle.**

**Next up, a world that is more down to Earth and has a very maternal atmosphere.**

**Chapter 12: The Sands of Time**

Link and Ganondorf found themselves the middle of the desert. It was sweltering, but they found themselves next to a large, cool river. They began to cool themselves off in the water, and felt quite refreshed. They realized they stood in front of a great city of the desert made of thick stone. In the center stood a tower many hundreds of feet tall and appeared to yet still be in construction. Surrounding that was what appeared to be a bustling city, and surrounding that was a massive stone wall. Link and Ganondorf, however, began to feel uneasy. If this was such a lively city, where were the people? Where was the smell of the market? Where the humdrum of people going about their lives? Where were the villagers coming to the river for water? It was increasingly eerie without all those telltale signs of life. It was almost as if the city had had all of its inhabitants stolen, or worse, killed. Right when they were about to discuss with each other that tingling feeling, they saw a boat. On it, two beings of clear royalty sat. A prince, garbed in merely shorts, stood proud and able bodied. He exuded masculinity and power; his eyes looking longingly at the city as if it was his home. The empress was dressed in a pure white gown and sat silently and appeared to be warning the prince about something. The prince was clearly having nothing to do with that argument and continued to stare at the city silently. Link and Ganondorf were about to yell at them when the city's guards appeared to open fire. Fiery catapults launched their payloads against the boat, and within moments, the boat was destroyed and its inhabitants were floating unconscious in the water. Without thinking, Link dove in the water, and Ganondorf was not far behind; after all, if he was going to try this hero thing, he might as well go the whole way. The boat was a quite a ways downstream, far closer to the main entrance to the city. That was why the horrible beast-man that appeared to be made of sand reached the empress first. He had a terrible horned mask on, used a large dagger, and was heavily armored. Link and Ganondorf were able to recover the princess and brought him back to relative safety where they might not be seen by those inside the walls. It took a while, but the prince was finally revived, sputtering and coughing.

"W-who are you? Why did Babylon fire on my ship?" the man sputtered and tried to get up.

"I'm Link, this is Ganondorf. As for the city that you call Babylon, I don't know why they launched their attack on you; we had just arrived here on a long journey. Are you an enemy of this state?" Link asked.

"No… no. I'm استاد زمان, the prince of this city. My father rules here. I'm… I'm the Prince of Persia." the Prince said.

"Seems like they don't accept you as royalty, Prince," Ganondorf noted.

"I'm sorry Prince, but the girl that was with you was taken by the monsters of the city," Link worried.

"The Empress? Oh no… it didn't seem to be made of sand, did it?" the Prince asked.

"Yes, they did. Man if I had those guys in my army…" Ganondorf mused.

"No no no! It's happening all over again. The Empress warned me about this when I took her from the Isle of Time." the Prince fretted.

The Prince got up and ran towards the city. He scaled the walls with seemingly flawless grace. Link and Ganondorf looked at each, hesitated a moment, then ran after the Prince. They too climbed the walls and followed the sound of the Prince's footsteps across rooftops and down back alleys. It was clear they were going to through secret ways that only someone who had lived here their entire life would know. When they finally caught up to him, he was glaring at a dagger in a building.

"Why is it every time I'm in one of these situations I find myself without a proper blade?" the Prince grumbled as he picked up the dagger. The Prince once again ran away and Link and Ganondorf quickly followed him. This time, they were close enough to the Prince to properly see him in action this time. He moved silently, and he snuck up on the sand monsters with incredible skill, dispatching them with his dagger in only one or two stabs. They seemed to be heading towards a palace just on the outskirts of the giant tower. They managed to catch up with the Prince just before a major courtyard. They tried to speak with them, but with great horror in his eyes, he told Link and Ganondorf to silence themselves and look into the courtyard. There stood a supremely old man with an evil glint in his eyes that Link didn't like and Ganondorf knew too well. Chained up was the princess from earlier and she was struggling extremely hard.

"Empress of Time… how much I've longed to meet you. I assume you've heard of me?" the wizened old man chuckled.

"I've heard of you, Vizier. You, who have caused horrible destruction over all the countries of this Earth. Release me: you know not the powers you tamper with," The Empress of Time spoke calmly.

"No, no, you see Empress, with this dagger, I'll be able to finally achieve immortality by killing you and releasing the Sands of Time, as I'm sure you are aware," The Vizier explained.

"You have no idea, Vizier. You stand in the city of my chosen warrior, and if you slaughter me, he'll only defeat you and reseal away the Sands of Time," the Empress warned.

But it was here that the Vizier had seemed to lose patience and he rushed forward and stabbed the Princess of Time with his ornamental dagger. The Empress let out a shriek that only said how much pain she was in. Her body disintegrated into sands before their eyes and a great wave of powerful energy burst forth. Link and Ganondorf dove behind walls, and the Vizier underwent a terrifying transformation. He grew massive wings, became extremely muscular, and seemed to lose decades in mere moments. The Vizier had become a god. His soldiers behind them took on strong blasts of wind too and became infected with the power of the Sands of Time too. They were now much more fearsome and horrible than they were before. The Prince, in intense shock, ran forward with his own dagger to try to attack the Vizier, but the Sands blew him back too. A chain from one the sand monsters attacked the Prince and dug the chain into his arm. The Vizier never even acknowledged the Prince's existence. He merely waved his hand, and a burst of powerful wind carried the Prince off into a collapsing part of the road that lead to a deep underground cave. Link, seeing the ceremonial dagger on the floor and immediately noticing its power, grabbed it. Ganondorf and Link ran towards the Prince and climbed underground many meters to reach him.

**Chapter 13: The Tunnels**

Link and Ganondorf found the Prince at the bottom of the pit, grievously injured. Link somehow knew that his normal medicine would not work on this human. Nevertheless, the Prince was losing blood fast, especially from the chain in his arm. They both knew it was this Prince here that they had come to rescue and recruit to their cause. But how could they if he was about to die? Much to Link's surprise, Ganondorf grabbed a nearby flower growing in the dry sands and chewed it up. Taking a new paste, Ganondorf placed it onto the wounds of the Prince. Astonishingly, the wounds healed almost instantly and color began to rush back into the Prince's face.

"In the Gerudo Desert, the medicine Hylians know are hard to come by. We used the plants of the desert, and every Gerudo is raised from birth to recognize each of their properties. Now, the flower I chewed up appeared to be a very close relative to the Gerudo Dragonflower. Mixed with Gerudo saliva, it can rapidly regrow skin and replace blood. I'm not as good as the elders of my race, but I know enough to get the Prince back to health," Ganondorf explained.

Link didn't have much time to be startled by this side of Ganondorf that had never been revealed, because the Prince sputtered to life. He looked utterly shocked to be in this whole with the same two strangers who saved him before.

"I guess we should introduce ourselves, Prince, I'm Link and this is Ganondorf, we hail from the kingdom of Hyrule, and… " Link started.

And with that, Link dove into a full blown explanation. He told him about the origin of all worlds, the destruction of their worlds, and of Tabuu's ambitions. The Prince seemed incredibly skeptical throughout, searching both of their faces for any hints of lying. Apparently, they passed the Prince's test, because when Link had finished his story about half an hour later, the Prince nodded once and spoke:

"Well, Link, Ganondorf, I'd like to welcome you to Babylon, the capital of Persia, where my forefathers ruled for centuries and I am the first born son of mine father, next in line for the throne. But as you can see, all is not right, " The Prince said sadly.

"Who's the Vizier?" Ganondorf grunted.

"He's a crooked man who wishes to become a god; no, became a god. That woman you saw was the Empress of Time. Within her, the very Sands of Time were kept. By sacrificing her with the dagger you hold Link, he was able to rend the Sands from her body. Blessed with this power, he became a god. The Vizier wishes for nothing less than world domination, and now he might get it because of my foolish actions. In my voyages, I rewinded time to save the Empress and brought her here despite her warnings that I should not... I would love to join you Link and Ganondorf in your fight against this Tabuu, but my people are suffering at the hands of the Vizier, I cannot let him to destroy Babylon," the Prince choked.

"Then I guess we'll just have to help you beat the Vizier, Prince" Link smiled.

The Prince looked at Link, and got the sense he had done this evil god thing before, and the Prince wondered who Link had defeated. Ganondorf also seemed quite strong to the Prince and exuded a power he could not comprehend. Seeing this, the Prince decided that the best choice was to allow them to help him save Babylon. He began to explain to him the plans he had to destroy the Vizier and was about five minutes in before a massive stone chunk fell from the sky, killing Link and Ganondorf instantly. The Prince, however, didn't seem so startled. He picked up the dagger from Link's lifeless body and pressed his thumb to the bottom. This dagger had the power of the Sands of Time and the Prince watched calmly as he watched time in reverse and saw the life rush back into Link and Ganondorf and the chunk of rock rose back up to its place. The Prince let go of the button and shoved Link and Ganondorf from the spot. Link and Ganondorf seemed startled, like they somehow knew they were nearly dead.

"How did you know that rock was about to fall?" Ganondorf observed.

"Because I have witnessed a future where it killed you. This dagger can control time and I merely rewinded before the rock fell and pushed you out of the way. From here on, if I tell you to do something, it's probably best you do, since I have likely seen the future that will occur if you do not. Now, let's move on," the Prince said.

And so Link, Ganondorf, and the Prince walked through the great tunnels under Babylon. They encountered very few monsters, and those that did were quickly wiped out by the trio. It soon became clear that it was an irrigation channel for the city, bringing water into the city for all sorts of uses. Link took note, he knew Zelda would want to hear how this was done the moment they saved Hyrule. It was often pitch dark, and it was only through the Prince's abnormally good knowledge of the upper city that kept them from getting lost. The ground finally began to slope up and a great gushing river of water was rushing past them from some great water source it seemed.

The three finally found the exit and blinked the harsh desert sun out of their eyes. They were standing in a massive pool of water in the middle of the city. They were a short distance from the giant tower from earlier, but it was not a far distance. The three snuck into an abandoned house.

"The Vizier will likely have set himself up at the top of that tower. It's the tallest point in the city, and thus best protected. Unfortunately, even if we made it up the tower, the Vizier is too powerful. There are now Sand Portals that use the power from his own army to improve his power. We'll have to destroy those, and fast. Any moment we waste is another civilian in danger," The Prince remarked.

Link and Ganondorf nodded their understandings and they stepped out of the house with the Prince. It was in the brief moment of the blinding sun that they were ambushed by the sand monsters. Link had his sword wrenched out of his hands, Ganondorf was heavily stunned, and the Prince lacked the range with his dagger to attack the group of monsters. What a way it was to end this adventure, except it wasn't the end. Arrows sprouted from each of the monsters and a fierce woman stood on a nearby rooftop. The Prince looked up, with his eyes wide with realization.

"F-Farah?!" the Prince stammer.

"I don't know how you know my name, stranger, but you ought to be more careful. If I wasn't walking by on my way to destroy the Vizier, you'd be dead," Farah scolded.

"But Farah, don't you remember me! I'm the Prince of Persia! We've gone on adventures together!" The Prince replied indignantly.

"I'm sorry, but I've never seen you before, and if you're the Prince of this place, then you ought to be fleeing. Babylon has fallen," Farah yelled as she ran off.

"You know her?" Link said after a while.

"I-I did. When I rewinded time to save the Empress, I must have erased our journey together," the Prince explained sadly.

"One thing I've learned from time travel, Prince: fate has a nasty habit of repeating of what ought to have happened," Ganondorf noted gruffly.

The Prince wiped tears from his eyes, then nodded once. He looked at his dagger, and it seemed to tell him something, and he ran off. When Link and Ganondorf had finally caught up, they saw the Prince in intense combat with half a dozen sand monsters armed only with his dagger. Fire danced in his eyes, and Link and Ganondorf were rendered dumbstruck for a few minutes before they thought to join in the battle. Between the three of the them, the sand monsters were wiped out in mere moments. There was a particularly memorable moment that the Prince would one day regale his own children with where Ganondorf picked up a sand monster, Link stabbed it repeatedly, and the Prince thrust his dagger into its heart to take its sand. When the monsters were cleared, the Prince stabbed a hole in the ground surrounded by ornate markings. A massive blast of sand came out of the hole, and Link and Ganondorf barely weren't thrown back by the force of it. The Prince pulled his dagger out after a few minutes and seemed satisfied.

"There's one Sand Portal," the Prince muttered to himself.

"How many more are there?" Link asked.

"If my dagger is telling me the signs correctly, six more, and they're relatively nearby. It seemed the Vizier wanted to create a sand barrier of sorts," the Prince answered.

"Then let us be off. The sooner we destroy the Sand Portals, we can stop the Vizier and save your subjects. Then, you can join our cause," Ganondorf reasoned.

The other two nodded their assent. They ran off together, climbing up walls and buildings to find sand monsters and Sand Portals. Sand monsters posed no threat it seemed, as they worked in perfect tandem to destroy any in their path, although they indeed saw few thanks to the Prince's knowledge of secret paths and stealth. It merely took them the morning to destroy all seven Sand Portals, which were impressive, considering that the circle in which they were assembled was about two miles in diameter. Finally, as the sun reached its highest point, they had destroyed the Vizier's protection. It was time for them to climb the tower.

**Chapter 14: Master of Time**

The trio had set out into the tower, but were met with a grim sight. There were bodies everywhere: men, women, even children. They were each wielding a weapon and were stuck in gruesome poses. The men were in the outer circle, and seemed the longest dead. The women were next, guarding their sons and daughters with smaller weapons. The children, many as young as weeks old, were strewn about the floor in the center. They seemed freshly mutilated, and their wounds seemed even more grisly than those given to the adults. The sand monsters seemed to leave them like this on purpose to taunt survivors who walked in here. You could almost see the older siblings standing in front of their younger brothers and sisters to take the deadly bite of death for them. Everyone heard the echoes of battle; the cries of the fallen, the screams of the wounded, the wails of babies. And in the midst of the children, who seemed to have been their last savior…

"F-father!" the Prince cried as he ran forward.

The dead King of Persia was stabbed with a horrible weapon, but that didn't defile him. He looked strong, proud. He looked sharpened, not worn with age. His wispy beard stood freshly trimmed, his armor was impeccably worn, and his sword was held in his hand, apparently he had died fighting. It seemed almost like time had stopped. The Prince had been hoping to find his father alive; they had fought just before the Prince left on his voyages. To see him lying here, dead because of the Prince's mistakes, slain in defending the innocent children of the kingdom, it was almost too much to bear for the Prince. He cried like he was a mere boy again, he remembered growing up with his father, he revisited those long walks through the palace grounds where his father taught him how to be a king, he heard those words the King of Persia told him so long ago: "The role of a king is not to rule, son. It is to be the face, the body that protects his people. A king that does not protect his people is no king at all. It would be better to die in battle protecting your people than to flee and allow your people to suffer without you." After an eternity, the Prince reached up, closed the King's eyes, and took the King's sword.

"Is this your king?" Ganondorf said when the Prince stood up.

"Yes, and he died valiantly protecting his people. It was the way he wanted to go. I'll just have to take his place and pray that I can be half the king he ever was. Good-bye father, I will destroy the man who killed you and slaughtered our people," the Prince responded bravely.

"I can tell he was a good man, too bad he could not join our cause. But we must be off Prince; Vizier is merely growing in power and we have no idea what Tabuu might be up to," Link warned.

They began to climb the tower, seeing endless floors. Each one seemed to be much newer than the last with an entirely different directions in the design.

"Each king commissions a new floor for this tower in honor of the last king. It's supposed to represent the growth of the kingdom over the ages. This floor was for my distant ancestor King Aldir the II, who led the kingdom after a period of disunion and brought us into a golden age. That's why this floor is so handsomely decorated and beautiful," the Prince explained.

And so they continued in this way. Each time they climbed a floor, they saw the history of Persia and the Prince's ancestors. He told them of each of the kings' rule and what they contributed to the kingdom. For all the talk of time, it seemed to them that for the first time, they really were traveling through history. The work and furniture of each floor became progressively newer and more sophisticated, and it seemed particularly endless after about 40 floors of kings. The Prince explained that before the invasion, these floors would be open to the public, and everyone would come to learn about the history of the kingdom and pray to those spirits from the respective eras. These halls would be filled with the mumbles of worshippers, the laughter of children, and the scratching of quills by scholars of history. This tower was the heart of Babylon, because it was the place that was a living monument to all that had happened. This whole discussion kept the company entertained, but almost melancholy because of the sight on the first floor and the eerie emptiness of the tower. On the floor of Queen Sheria the VI about fifty-nine floors up, they ran into Farah again.

"Farah! Please listen to me! You can't go up there!" the Prince pleaded.

"Look, Prince? I don't know what it is to you if I go up there or not. The Vizier killed _my_ people, and I intend to kill him. Why do you care if I could be in trouble?" Farah mused.

"Farah, please… We met before, but I… I threw it away. I rewinded the events of our adventures to save the Empress of Time. I… care about you Farah. I've lost too many people today; I can't lose you Farah,"

"Farah? I've been helping the Prince, and he was hurt by our last meeting. He truly cares for you," Link offered.

"Considering the Vizier is a god, I guess that that story isn't too far fetched, but why should I believe you?" Farah countered.

"Because Farah, I know how much you cared for your people, and I know the responsibilities of royalty. If you must go up there, please let us go with you," the Prince pleaded.

The tower rumbled violently. Dust fell from the ceiling, and chunks of rock went all over the floor. In horror, the Prince watched as the archway they were standing under begin to collapse. He pressed the button on his dagger again, but instead of rewinding time, it slowed it down for the Prince. In a fraction of a second to the others, the Prince dove and pushed the other three out of the way, but found himself on the other side of the collapsed archway.

"As if this trip couldn't get more annoying," Ganondorf grumbled.

"Prince! Are you OK?," Farah asked.

"Fine, Farah. Thankfully, I have my father's sword," the Prince replied.

"How will that help?" Link questioned.

"It is a truly powerful sword passed down from king to prince, queen to princess. It shall shatter this debris in a second!" the Prince said confidently.

True enough, the wall of debris was shattered and the Prince stepped through looking more confident and strong than he had been all day. It was as if the shock and horror of the day, from the fall of his city to the death of his father, had been lost merely by meeting up with Farah and saving the others. Each nodding at each other, they understood perfectly. Their squad, only together, was the best hope of defeating the Vizier. They tore up the sides of tower, racing towards the slowly approaching top. But no longer were their hearts filled with dread of battles yet to come. It was filled with exhilaration, hope even, for a future they could find happiness in. It took another hour to finally climb all the floors and they stood at the top of the tower.

The sun was setting over the river and the city looked like it was ablaze by the reflecting sunlight. There was a beautiful outside courtyard surrounded by ornate columns. The Vizier was flying with his wings in the center, overlooking the setting sun and seeing his new domain.

"So, Prince? You've come to try to defeat me again? And you have friends this time. I see Farah, lovely. Too bad she doesn't remember our little adventures, hehehe. But I don't recognize the other two. Who's the green runt and the desert wanderer?" the Vizier said without turning around.

"These are my companions, and they have helped me in reaching you. They come from other worlds and together, we will defeat you! You'll come to fear their names!" The Prince screamed.

"I am Link, the legendary Hero of Hyrule reborn. With my trusty holy blade at my side, my strength has sealed away the darkness in countless ages. You will be the next villain to feel my Master Sword!" Link declared raising his sword skyward.

"And I am Ganondorf, the King of Evil. I plagued the land of Hyrule for endless eras. With the power of the gods in the palm of my hand, I have done more than you ever could. You aren't even worthy of being my minion!" Ganondorf chuckled.

"Bold words before a god. Perhaps I should teach you a lesson!" the Vizier laughed.

"Bold words, but nevertheless true. You will feel pain for what you did to our kingdoms, Vizier," Farah calmly explaining, unslinging her bow and taking aim.

The Vizier narrowed his eyes and fired spines out of his body at everyone. The Prince pressed the button on his dagger and this time the dagger sent out a blast of sand to blow these away. The Vizier countered by breaking off pieces of the columns with telekinesis and throwing rocks at the group. Ganondorf summoned his dual blades of light and struck them with extreme speed. Farah and Link both fired volley after volley of arrows at the Vizier and it was clear they were doing some real damage.

"I guess I need to try harder. Maybe I'll just start this battle over and defeat you!" the Vizier screamed with lightning in his eyes.

"Not so fast. You may hold the Sands of Time in your body, but my dagger is the true master of the Sands. That's right, the Dagger of Time. Your time powers won't work in a battle against me! With this in my hands, I am the true Master of Time. Surrender Vizier!" the Prince demanded.

The Vizier looked furious and dove at them with sharp claws, but Ganondorf stood in front of the group and laughed. His thrust out his fist and the Triforce mark glowed.

"Vizier, you're not the only one with a more powerful form," Ganondorf smiled.

Ganondorf grew many times in size. Massive golden blades appeared in his hands. His feet became hooves, and his face grew massive tusks. His face became that of a pig's. His muscles rippled with horrifying power. Ganondorf had become Ganon. Ganon merely deflected the claws with his tusks and delivered a deep blow to the Vizier's wings. The Vizier could no longer fly.

"You call yourself a god, Vizier? You're weak, you don't understand power. You have to work for it, all you did was kill a girl," Ganon berated the Vizier.

Link and Farah kept firing more arrows, and the Vizier now looked rather like a porcupine. The Vizier's face kept looking more and more furious that he was hurt so much by these four. But to the Vizier, it looked more and more grim. The Prince was blocking his most powerful moves, Link and Farah were drawing blood with every shot, and Ganon would block and counter any hint.

"Give up, Vizier? Merely release the Sands and I'll let you live in exile on some island somewhere," the Prince said.

"N-never! Prince, I can still win!" the Vizier screamed violently.

The Prince smirked. He had expected this. It was clear that only killing the Vizier would work.

"Ganon, pin him down. Link and Farah, hold your fire. Vizier, I pledged to give you mercy. And I shall. I shall send you to your maker, with the Dagger of Time and restore the Sands to its master," the Prince whispered.

The others did as they were told. All was silent except the Vizier's struggling against the strength of Ganon. It was almost pitiful. To those who were there, they would swear that it was as if the world was holding its breath for the Vizier's death. The Prince walked slowly up and looked into the eyes of the Vizier. Only Farah saw it, but in the corner, she swear she saw a figure, a figure that seemed to be royalty looking upon the Prince. It is from my sources that I believe that the King remained on the earth just to watch over his son and pass on his legacy. I imagine he was at peace here.

The Prince finished staring into the eyes of the man who did so much destruction, and in a sharp motion, drove the Dagger of Time straight into the Vizier's heart. The Vizier screamed only once, then another blast of sand came out of him and Farah was blasted away into a nearby door, upon which the doorway was blocked by collapsing stone. There was no way to get to her quickly. The Vizier's body disintegrated and the sun finally set. The three men caught their breath, getting ready to free Farah. But it was too late: Tabuu had come for this world. A void appeared in the darkness and Link and Ganondorf knew that Farah was lost. The Prince seemed to realize this too, and grew agitated.

"Come, we must remove this rubble!" the Prince cried.

"Prince! We cannot help her! The void is right on top of us, we have only moments before we are destroyed by Tabuu's darkness!" Link exclaimed.

"Prince, go on without me. I see now you have a higher calling. Never fear for me. When you return, we shall swap our tales and we will celebrate!" Farah cried from the other side of the door.

"But-" the Prince started.

Ganondorf grabbed the Prince's hand and pointed up. Already it was mere feet away, and Ganondorf shook his head. The Prince understood.

"Fare- Farewell sweet Farah," the Prince wailed.

Link, Ganondorf, and the Prince held hands and left the world, hoping that they had done the right thing.


	5. The Mother (Earthbound) World

**Somehow, I've come back within a decent amount of time. This time, we join Young Link and Zelda as they visit the times of Ninten, Ness, and Lucas of the Mother/Earthbound Trilogy. Shoutout to Ani on Discord for her help navigating the lore and memes of Mother, because to be honest, my only history with the series is playing like the first 3/4 of Earthbound. I have no idea what the next world should be, so if you have an idea, feel free to send it. Without further ado, welcome to the longest portion of the story to date.**

**Chapter 15: The Lost Boy**

Zelda and Young Link arrived in a dark, abandoned place. There were cages, filled with what appeared to be the trappings of animal holding. They saw the remnants of buildings that seemed to echo with the noises of tourists. Zelda read a nearby sign: welcome to the Podunk Zoo! Zelda told Young Link this, and they both mused for quite a bit over where they were and why was the zoo abandoned? Where could the hero or heroes of this world that they needed be? Captain Falcon's transport took them right to them, but the hero here couldn't be near here, could he or she? It was mysterious and quite chilling to be in place formerly so filled with mirth and see it so empty. They began to walk, hoping to run into the chosen heroes of this world very soon. Nevertheless, they prepared themselves for battle; Zelda began to recite spells in her head that might get the two of them out of a sticky situation and Young Link drew his Kokiri Sword. It was then a might lion charged at them.

Young Link placed himself in front of Zelda and held up the Deku Shield. That said, as a child of the forest, Young Link seemed to be reluctant to attack an animal of any kind that wasn't possessed by Ganondorf's magic. He batted the lion back with a sharp poke on the nose with the hilt of his sword. Zelda noticed that the eyes of the animal appeared vacant, as if it was being controlled by something else. While the lion paced them, Zelda shared her suspicions with Young Link.

"But what am I supposed to do? Attack it, kill it because it isn't in its right mind?" Young Link said worriedly.

Thankfully for Young Link's conscience, it was that moment that an intrepid duo of children charged forward.

"PK Fire!" the young girl cried.

Fire miraculous flew from her hands, and the young boy, no older than Young Link, beat the lion about the head with a baseball bat viciously. The lion spit in pure fury and spite, but seemed confused from his burning fur and painful headache. Zelda and Young Link were rendered dumbstruck by the bravery of these two young children. It was after the girl summoned a PK Freeze attack and the boy unleashed a blow against the head that nearly knocked it out instantly that the eyes became normal. The lion, confused, wandered off to lick its wounds. The boy and girl turned to Zelda and Young Link. The boy wore a red hat pointed backwards, a striped shirt, shorts and shoes, and had a face still glowing with the joys of childhood and framed by a bunch of messy hair pouring out of the hat. He paused to take a breath from an inhaler. The girl was just as young, with just as an innocent face with baby blue eyes and a pink dress. She had long, blonde hair.

"Who are you two? We thought the Podunk Zoo was abandoned!" the girl exclaimed.

"I'm Zelda and this is Young Link, don't ask why we call him that, it's a long story I fear we don't have time for yet. Who are you?" Zelda replied.

"Well, she's Ana, and I'm Ninten. You're lucky we came. That lion was controlled by the forces of Giygas, it would have killed you in an instant," Ninten warned.

"What's going on? Who's Giygas, and where are we?" Young Link asked.

"This is the Podunk Zoo, a local attraction for Podunk. That is, until the animals were taken over by Giygas. Giygas… Giygas is an alien force commanded to attack Earth for the transgressions of a human eighty years ago. That human was Ninten's relative, and we're on a journey to stop him. We came here to stop the animals and seek someone who might help us," Ana explained.

"Then we shall go together. We can't explain yet, but we need to help you, and we've got to do it fast. We're on a time limit," Zelda commanded.

"It's going to be a long walk, we have to go to the place where my ancestor disappeared from this world to those of the aliens. Want some Oreos?" Ninten asked.

"Oreos?" Young Link asked.

"You're not from around here are you? Oreos are these delicious cookies. Try some, they're my favorite!" Ninten laughed.

And so they walked through the zoo. It was far less mysterious this time with the four of them together, laughing together, and snacking on Ninten's Oreos. Very few animals attacked them, and the ones they did they defeated swiftly, and once returned to their right mind, Ninten or Ana made sure to heal them before they wandered off. It was almost like the zoo was still open and they were just a normal group walking through to watch the animals. Before long, Ninten and Ana stopped. They stood in an empty circle in the center of the park. Unkempt stones paths had weeds growing up, gnarled trees circled the location, and the center had a massive stone obelisk.

"This is the place Ana. Would you regale us with your song?" Ninten asked.

"Yes, let's," Ana replied.

Ana opened her mouth, took a deep breath, and began to sing a slow, wistful memory. It seemed like Ana was pleading for something essential. On a whim, Young Link pulled out an ocarina (to those of you who guessed, yes, it's the Ocarina of Time) and began to play by ear to the song.

_Through ice and through fire_

_A wilderness of stone_

_With dreams and desires_

The obelisk in the center began to glow.

_I have come along_

_Seeking the answers_

_Only you could know_

Lightning cracked from clouds unseen and the weeds shriveled into the ground.

_Show me the wisdom of the world_

_Tell me the secrets of the heart_

_And the sweet mysteries of love_

The wind howled and the trees began to grow back their leaves.

_Come fill my eyes with visions_

_So that I may see_

_Reveal the ancient powers_

The sky became overwhelmed with pink clouds.

_Whisper them to me_

_Here I stand before you_

_Ready to receive_

The sweet scent of lavender filled the air.

_Show me the wisdom of the world_

_Tell me the secrets of the heart_

_And the sweet mysteries of love_

Ana appeared to be crying as she sung another verse and ended up at the end.

_There's so much I've yet to learn_

_Show the way_

_I am down on my knees_

_Begging now, begging please_

The Podunk Zoo disappeared and a massive expanse of pink clouds surrounded them.

_Show me the wisdom of the world_

_Tell me the secrets of the heart_

_And the sweet mysteries of love_

With the last of these words, a castle rose before them with gorgeous spires and a weathered face. A silence fell over the group; it felt like they had just entered somewhere sacred. Young Link put the Ocarina away and they all pondered where they were now. Then, the name of the place appeared in their heads at once.

"Magicant," they all whispered.

With that, the great gates of the castle opened before them and they all walked inside. In a massive hall, a young woman sat on an ornate throne. She had a full head of shoulder length blonde hair and olive-green eyes. She wore an expensive crown, but seemed to not judge herself highly despite these signs of wealth.

"Ninten, my sweet boy! Come to me my great grandson!" the woman called.

Of course, all three were shocked that this young woman could possibly be Ninten's great grandmother who was kidnapped by Giygas' race eighty years ago.

"Oh, of course, you are confused. I'm Maria, known in this realm as Queen Mary. Magicant has preserved me and kept me young until the day it came for me to pass the knowledge to defeat Giygas to those who needed it," Queen Mary laughed, then seemed to be sad at the end of the sentence.

"Why are you so sad, Queen Mary?" Ana worried.

"Giygas… Giygas is someone I wish not to destroy. When I was abducted by the aliens just after giving birth to your grandfather, Ninten, I was given Giygas to raise like a son. I… I loved him dearly. I tried to show him the love of the human race that I knew he would likely one day be called upon to destroy. I'm sad to say I failed, and now the task to defeat him has fallen to my own blood," Queen Mary visibly cried at these words.

"Well, how do we defeat him, Your Highness?" Zelda asked.

"I can sense from the way you hold yourself that you're royalty too, Zelda. Yes, I know your name. I know your goal, and I know you must beat Giygas quickly. But I cannot give you the way to beat Giygas yet," Queen Mary explained.

"Why not, Queen Mary?" Young Link questioned.

"Because all the heroes aren't gathered here. Yes, Young Link and Zelda, you have gathered people who may help you in your quest, but there are other that you will need to beat Giygas and even your whole quest. I expect another guest from a time beyond will come in soon. I had called him to Magicant. You will leave with him. Once you do, you'll gather another person from that time, before I'll send you to a final time. With those you assemble, you will be worthy of the power to beat Giygas," Queen Mary said.

"But who could possibly come here from a time be-" Ninten began.

Another young boy entered the room. He looked, similar, yet starkly different from Ninten. His red baseball cap was faced forward, his hair wasn't nearly as messy, his striped shirt was entirely different, and he seemed older. He seemed just as shocked to see the group there as the group was to see him.

"Meet Ness. He comes from a time about twenty years in your future from a town called Onett. His time too is troubled by Giygas, and as Zelda can attest, he holds great power," Queen Mary smiled.

Indeed, Zelda felt an overwhelming presence of power and energy.

"Y-you're one of the Twelve Reborn, aren't you, N-Ness?" Zelda stammered.

"Twelve Reborn? I have no idea what you're talking about madam, I was just here looking for a way to end Giygas' power over me," Ness said.

"It looks like we have a lot of stories to exchange, but I'm guessing that we're running out of time on multiple deadlines, Ness, so let's leave this castle and head to your time," Ana scolded everyone.

"Ana is right, everyone, walk out of my castle and you will find yourself in Twoson. Ness, you know who you will find there. She will be necessary for you. Protect her with all your might, everyone," Queen Mary supported, dismissing everyone.

**Chapter 16: Two New Times**

They walked out into a small suburban town. It was bright and sunny and seemed unbelievably mundane compared to the obviously supernatural Magicant. There was a strange number of hippies around that Ness seemed to want to avoid, and a market full of shady dealers. Ness took the lead, and they walked down a lane until Ness stopped in front of a building. It read: Twoson Preschool.

"I know the heroes of this world are young, but are we taking a preschooler?" Zelda asked.

"Of course not, Zelda, was it? The girl we want works here. She was my friend as a child," Ness explained.

They walked inside. The two adults raised their eyebrows at them, but said nothing as they walked upstairs. They stepped through a door into a room clearly meant for a teenage girl. A plush bed stood near the window, the walls were covered with violent pink, and it was impeccably clean. On the chair sat a girl facing a desk, miraculously bending a spoon without touching it. She also had blonde hair with pink bows, yet another pink dress, and blue eyes. She looked rather like Ana, yet like Ninten and Ness, different. She seemed to sense them despite the fact they hadn't said anything and turned around.

"Ness, are these your friends? Did you visit Magicant? Is it time for our journey to beat Giygas?" the girl said rapidly.

"No, Paula, we need to gather two more allies. We came to pick you up, Paula," Ness explained.

The others stood awkwardly around, but that didn't last long because a robotic hand came bursting through the window and grabbed Paula, dragging her out the window. She screamed horribly and was carried off. Young Link ran to the window and saw a horrible mech with a young boy, fat and menacing standing inside. Ness, too, had run to the window.

"PORKY! What are you doing with Paula?! Release her now!" Ness demanded.

Laughing horribly, Porky replied, "No can do, Ness! Giygas knows what you're doing and that you need Paula to even reach the other heroes! You'll have to beat me to stand a chance!"

With that, the mech ran off to the west at high speeds. There was no way they could catch them. They'd be in the next town over before they even got out of the house. Ness, however, seemed unworried.

"I know where he went," sighed Ness.

"Where, Ness?" Ninten asked.

"To our hometown, Onett. If I had to bet, we'll find him at the top of the mountainside where we first heard of Giygas," Ness explained.

"How do we get there?" Ana asked.

"We could walk, but that'd take too long. We'll have to use PSI Teleport," Ness calculated.

He led them outside into a straightaway.

"Hold onto me, everyone. We'll have to reach pretty fast speeds for the PSI to take hold," Ness warned.

And with that, Ness ran off down the road. The others held onto one another in a line, trying desperately to keep up. They kept going faster and faster until they simply ceased to be in Twoson. They never quite sure where they were, except neither here nor there, nowhere and everywhere. They were still going the extremely fast speed and Ness kept his calm look as if he had done this before, and as suddenly as they entered this strange place, they exited in front of a house. Ness quickly slowed them down in front of the door.

"Are we going inside?" Young Link asked.

"No, best not to worry her… Porky is just up that hill," Ness said as he pointed to a nearby hill.

"Worry who, Ness?" Zelda inquired.

"My mother, she'll delay us too much," Ness responded.

And with that melancholy attitude, the group slowly climbed the hill. It was a long, winding path. Old police barricades covered the hill, but they just ignored them. At one point, they passed a house that Ness claimed to be the home for a treasure hunter, but didn't elaborate and none of the others seemed to want to enter. Crows and dogs surrounded them, and Ness looked at them warily, but they never attacked. Finally, after about half an hour of hiking, they reached the summit. They saw a meteorite crashed in a crater in the center of the area, and it was mysteriously glowing. Porky and his mech walked from behind a tree. The others finally got a good look at the mech. It was horrible, gray, with many long legs. There was no telling what amazing weapons Porky may have.

"Ness, don't you remember? This is where our journeys, our destinies began so long ago," Porky giggled.

"Yes, I remember when you were just a snotrag who was scared of climbing a hill we had climbed for years," Ness retorted.

"Where's Paula?" Ana begged.

"Oh, she's up here," Porky smiled.

It was Young Link who saw her first. Paula was hanging from a branch in a tree, and she looked unconscious. He saw that Porky was still staring at Ness, and so used his Hookshot to reach the top of the tree. He picked up Paula, and jumped down. Ana walked over, whispered some words, and Paula woke up with some definite color in her face. Porky finally stopped staring at Ness and turned to look at the others and seemed startled by the fact Paula was down.

"How-How did you do that?!" Porky screamed.

"Gift of Dampé," Young Link explained showing off his Hookshot.

"No matter! I'll just stop you in the Forever Islands. Already, my soldiers have converted one of the heroes you need," Porky laughed as he disappeared.

"Good work, everyone! Ness' time has been preserved, but you still need two others, and I'm afraid Porky was right, one you need was captured by his forces. I'll send you to the future, and you'll need to hurry to save the Forever Islands. I fear the two there are in terrible danger," the voice of Queen Mary filled the area.

It wasn't as smooth as the time travel before, and the group felt themselves lifted up into a black void. Horrible images of battles yet to come flew past them. Wars come and gone, faceless armies laying waste to the world, terrible sights of civilians fleeing war-torn lands. It was enough to make anyone cry. If this was the future that would come to pass after Ness' time, then the world's future was grim indeed. What state would they find the two they need in? Where were the Forever Islands? As soon as the battles came, they left, filled now with images of a peaceful people. These were islanders, and they had finally found refuge from the greed and envy of mankind. They lived in peace for eons it seemed to our time traveling heroes. That was clearly not meant to last. Images of a new army invading the islands showed and these invaders were largely unopposed, and they were led by… Porky?

The void disappeared and they found themselves in a vast field. It seemed like farmland, and it smelled of earth. This was clearly far ahead of Ness' time and there was no telling what had changed. All they knew was that this seemed to be part of the Forever Islands. If this was an island, it seemed to be a very large one. The farmland stretched past the horizon in every direction and there was only the slightest hint of sea air. A nearby sign read, "Potatoto" and each of them silently giggled at this clear misspelling. They stood in stunned silence, until…

"So where's the next two heroes?" Zelda asked.

"Well, they have to be somewhere nearby, or at least I hope so, the pollen isn't helping my asthma," Ninten responded as he pulled his inhaler out.

"Wait for them, you think?" Young Link suggested.

"Why would a hero be out here?" Ana wondered.

"He has to be, Queen Mary wouldn't send us somewhere far away from them, not when we're on such a time crunch," Ness pointed out.

"Yeah, but Ness, no one is out here," Paula reasoned.

"That isn't true," Young Link said suddenly as he drew his sword.

And he was right, a droning noise was coming from the distance. In flew a robotic figure on mechanical wings, but it wasn't Porky. This person (for indeed it was humanoid) wore a metal helmet that covered most of his head and covered his face in shadow, held an arm cannon, and was wearing a dreary coat and shoes. The heroes did not know it, but they had just met the Masked Man. They were unsure of what to make of this newcomer at first. The Masked Man made the decision for them by opening fire on them. Young Link dove in front of Zelda, and the four children cast PSI Shields around each other. The Masked Man smiled, and waved his hands. Much to their dismay, the children found their PSI Shields eliminated. What power could this person have that they could destroy a shield of PSI? Young Link barked to everyone to stand behind him, and he lifted his shield, ready to defend his allies. The Masked Man landed and began to walk towards the group. Young Link prepared to throw his boomerang in his free hand.

"Foolish hero, you know that your wooden boomerang cannot do anything to me," the Masked Man spoke with a childish voice.

"Don't be so sure, this boomerang has served me well," Young Link retorted, but put it away.

"And don't even think about using PSI abilities, especially not PSI Rockin' like I know you're about to, boy,"

"What do we do?" Ana whispered.

Thankfully, Ana had her questions answered by another boy. This one had blonde hair curled upwards, teal eyes, a striped shirt, and shorts. He charged fearlessly at the Masked Man.

"PK Love!" the boy screamed.

"A-a-a-ah Lu-Lu-Lucas…" the Masked Man said through the pain of the attack.

"Why have you attacked these travelers, Masked Man? They merely wish to pass by, they aren't even against you!" Lucas screamed.

"Ah but Lucas, they have come to oppose us. They've come to recruit you in an attempt to defeat my master, Lucas," the Masked Man explained.

"Who? Porky? I'm already doing that!" Lucas retorted.

"No, Porky is merely an underling like me. Giygas, the evil that corrupted Porky has come to lead us," the Masked Man laughed.

"Worse-even worse-than Porky?" Lucas breathed in disbelief.

"Lucas, I can see now, you are one of the two we came for. Join us, we must unite against Giygas. We have come from the past and other worlds to seek you Lucas, come with us," Ness called.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Ness," the Masked Man responded.

"We'll destroy you if we must!" Paula yelled.

"My metallic armor is near impenetrable. I doubt you can even get a single hit on me, outside of Lucas' PK Love," the Masked Man reminded her.

"Don't be so sure!" Zelda called as she knocked a golden arrow in an ornate bow, hitting the Masked Man.

"What. Was. THAT?!" the Masked Man screamed in agony and anger.

"You can thank the Light Spirits for that, the light will always shine through!" Zelda told him.

"This isn't over. I'll wait for you in New Pork City, if you wish to defeat Giygas," the Masked Man said as he flew away.

"Now that that is over, who are you guys?" Lucas asked.

"Well, long story, and we lack time for introductions, but us four," she pointed at the PSI kids, "are from previous eras in your history, from where Giygas first attacked, and the other two are from another world. That person was right, Lucas. We need you, and we need someone else. I'm guessing we should head to New Pork City?" Ana said.

"I don't like the sound of that," Ninten worried.

"You won't, New Pork is swarming with Pigmasks. But if the Masked Man and Porky are there, we're going to have to. They sound like big deals in Giygas' attack, whoever Giygas is," Lucas warned.

And so they set off. Ness explained that he couldn't simply warp them there since he had to have visited the place before in order to travel there. They were left with traveling then. However, spirits weren't down. Knowing that a battle is coming soon, no matter what, does unbelievable wonders for one's mood, since there is no point in worrying about the future then. They crossed green fields, roads, and even forests. But as they walked, they also saw that the world was becoming far less wild and more man-made. Before too long, they were clearly on the outskirts of a major city.

They saw skyscrapers and a sea of neon lights. They had arrived at New Pork City. But for a city, it was surprisingly empty… Pigmasks were seen here and there, but never seemed to want to engage with the intruders. This was how they walked through New Pork City with no fighting. By unspoken consent, they walked to the tallest skyscraper. The inside of the building was completely empty, but files sat on the receptionist's desk; it was almost as if he or she had merely left for the restroom. Waiting for his or her return was probably a bad idea and they stepped into an elevator. They rose to the top, and found themselves on a massive helicopter pad. Porky and the Masked Man were in deep conversation in the center of it and did not seem to immediately notice the newcomers.

"We'll have to stop them here. If they get one more… Queen Mary will tell them how to beat Giygas," Porky worried.

"They can't possibly defeat me, Porky. You worry too much," the Masked Man told him.

Ness coughed loudly on purpose. "So, we have you cornered. It'd probably be best for you to surrender now, you two, so that we can focus on finding our last hero."

"Never, Ness! After all this time, I'm finally going to beat you!" Porky cackled.

The Masked Man aimed his arm cannon at the group and began firing. The team jumped out of the way. Zelda began calling on magic spells to do fire damage and such. Young Link began throwing bombs to throw him off balance. Ninten and Ana hung back to heal the party whenever the Masked Man hurt one of them. Ness, Lucas, and Paula were standing a distance behind Young Link trying all sorts of PSI attacks to try and weaken the Masked Man. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to particularly weaken him. Hurt him, yes, but never weaken him. Ana looked fearful and confused, until her eyes went wide and seemed to realize something.

"PK Healing!" Ana cried, transferring her PSI into the Masked Man.

The Masked Man stopped in his tracks. The rest of the group looked shocked that Ana would do that, but that was nothing to what Porky looked like. He looked like his death warrant had been signed in front of his eyes and was extremely fearful. After an eternity, the Masked Man seemed to return to his senses, but instead of training his gun on the team once more, he fired on Porky. Porky, with the look of shock never leaving his eyes, fell off the skyscraper, and was never heard from again.

"Ana… I thank you. Your PSI was what I needed to see the truth…" the Masked Man whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Ninten asked.

"Lucas, I think you know who I am, I think you always knew. I know it can never mean enough, but I'm sorry," the Masked Man cried.

Lucas walked up to the Masked Man, tears in his eyes. The others tried to stop him, but before he could, he hugged the Masked Man. "Claus," he whimpered.

"What's going on?" Paula asked.

"Lucas and I… we're twin brothers. I was near death, filled with worry and vengeance. Porky's Pigmasks found me, and it was through him that I fell under the influence of Giygas. I had nearly forgotten who I was…" Claus cried.

**Chapter 17: The Final Battle**

"Well, then I think I speak for everyone when I say it is clear you are our last member. Am I right, Queen Mary?" Ness proclaimed.

"Yes, Ness," Queen Mary's voice said.

New Pork City disappeared before their eyes, and once more they stood in Queen Mary's castle, as if they had never left. Queen Mary was wearing a sad smile, as if she was about to do something she wished she wouldn't have to do.

"Now that you have gathered the six from across time to help you beat Giygas, I supposed I must teach you the song that will defeat Giygas," Queen Mary told them.

"A song?" Ana asked.

"Don't be surprised. In our world, songs too hold magical power," Zelda told them.

"Yes, but this song holds no magical power, Zelda. At least, not in the pure sense. This is the lullaby I sang to Giygas when I raised him every night. If there is even a shred of the little baby I loved left in him, this song will hurt him from the memories of the love I gave him. His pain of loving me and wishing he didn't have to hurt those I too loved will kill him," Queen Mary told them, tears in her eyes.

"Why are you crying, Queen Mary? Giygas has turned from humanity," Paula asked.

"No, once you have known love, a critical human emotion aliens don't understand, it is both your greatest weakness and strength. Now, I imagine a good instrument to go with the vocals will be a good idea. Young Link, I recommend you play that amazing Ocarina you have, and now I will teach you the lyrics," Queen Mary told them.

And Queen Mary sung a wistful song that would haunt each of them for the rest of their lives.

"That song… it's called the Eight Melodies. It holds the key to beating Giygas. Now I will return you to the place where George, my husband, returned to Earth without me, and where your final battle will. You'll find yourself in a place called Mt. Itoi. Now, I must say good-bye forever," Queen Mary instructed them.

"Where are you going?" Claus asked..

"Claus, you can't imagine this as you are still a young boy with a long life ahead of you, but my time on this Earth has long passed. Magicant was the only thing left keeping me here. Now that the way to defeat Giygas once and for all has been passed on, it's time for me to join George in the world beyond this one. Magicant will cease to exist, but its power will rest in each one of you. Good luck, I'll be watching over you," Queen Mary-no, Maria- said as she faded away.

Magicant and her castle also disappeared in front of them, and they found themselves standing on a mountainside. In front of them were two graves, old and simple that read: "Here lies George, whose strong will and penchant for hope will ring across the ages" and "Here lies Maria, whose love was never forgotten by those who were lucky enough to receive it." They stood breathing in the moment. The death of the two whose lives began Giygas'. And the life they breathed which would lead them to destroy Giygas. Ninten seemed the most distraught, as these were his relatives. The sky was covered in dark clouds, and it slowly seemed so much more dreary. A cold voice rang out across the mountainside.

"So you've arrived? I'd have thought each of you would have ran away in terror from even the mention of meeting me. No matter, I'll just destroy you here," the voice said.

Ness, Ninten, and Lucas were struck by an attack they could not understand, and were sent hurtling off the mountain. The power of Giygas' voice lifted them up onto the summit, where he encased the surroundings in an impenetrable dome of darkness. Claus aimed his arm cannon and prepared to fire on Giygas, his former master. Ana and Paula prayed for strength to go on. Zelda tried to cover the children with their body. Young Link stood, sword drawn, ready to take down the powerful being in front of him. However, in face of the mighty Giygas, merely one hero with a tiny blade wouldn't do. The monster was long and lanky, thin and sickly. His dark eyes, radiated power, and his horns looked sharp. He floated in the sky, flicking his tail like an angry cat. The being seemed to possess powers they could only dream of.

All had seemed lost. Ninten, Ness, and Lucas seemed to not have survived the attack by Giygas earlier and now three of their number with the power to destroy him utterly were no more. Giygas now had them trapped in a place between time and space where he would destroy them utterly and begin his conquest of their world. Everyone began to weep bitterly. The end was nigh.

Young Link stood in front of everyone and prepared his shield. As hopeless outmatched as he was, he was determined to protect his princess and these innocent children as long as he could. That didn't last long as an attack that none of them could comprehend swatted the young hero aside and winded. Giygas unleashed a powerful beam on the group. Their time had come…

"PK Shield!" Ninten called. The beam of unimaginable power was stopped in its tracks as Ninten, Ness, and Lucas stood proudly in front of their friends. The heroes said not a word, but the message was clearly understood by each of them. Paula, Ana, Claus, and Zelda felt great courage in the face of the heroes, and sang the song Maria had imparted to them with her dying wishes. Young Link pulled out the Ocarina of Time and began to play the tune. Ninten pointed his baseball bat at the being and Ness and Lucas called sparks to their fingers. The battle had come. Each had fought Giygas or his underlings in their own time, but had failed to stop him totally. Only together could they finish this. Destiny had called them to this place, the peak where the battle against Giygas began: Mt. Itoi. Today, that battle for all the was pure and innocent in the world ended.

_La La La Laa la la la la_

_La la La La La La La la la_

_Take a Melody_

_Simple as can be_

Ness and Lucas unleashed wave after wave of PSI attacks at him and Ninten helped defend the group from everything Giygas threw at the trio and their friends while coming in swinging with a hit that would make Babe Ruth of our world jealous. It was really amazing how in sync they were. In the face of this onslaught and the beginning song, Giygas seemed to be startled.

_Give it some words and_

_Sweet harmony_

_Raise your voices,_

_All day long now,_

_Love grows strong now_

_Sing a melody of love_

_Oh, love_

When Lucas developed an intense fever from using too much PSI, Ninten placed a powerful shield around him while Paula healed it away with her PSI. When Ness seemed to get strangely emotional, Zelda opened Paula's pack and gave Ness some food that seemed to immediately cheer him up. And when Ninten seemed to be all out of breath, Lucas and Ness covered him while Ana offered him an inhaler. The seven were an unstoppable team. Giygas seemed to have something in his head paining him.

_Give it some words and_

_Sweet harmony_

"Stop… stop the singing!" Giygas screamed.

"Giygas, you're finished! This is what you get for attacking innocents!" Ness scolded.

"The lives of our people has been ruined by you, and we have to stop you, so no one ever has to deal with what we did!" Lucas commented.

"Giygas, don't you want to hear the words of the song your mother sang to you all those years ago?" Ninten asked.

Giygas looked at Ninten, but he didn't see Ninten. He saw Maria reflected in Ninten, her features passed down to him; her love, her strength, her hope, and her life gathered inside Ninten. Giygas was made even more painfully aware of the fact that the boy and the ones with him were sent by the one person who ever loved him as an act of mercy. The three boys gathered their remaining PSI and called an attack.

_Love is the magic_

_Love is the story_

_Love is the melody_

_We all can sing_

_Love is the magic_

_Love is the story_

_Love is the melody_

_We all can sing_

"PK Beam!" Ninten screamed.

"PK Love!" Lucas yelled.

"PK Rockin'!" Ness raged.

The song mingled with these powerful attacks and gave them unprecedented strength.. Truly, love is a powerful weapon. Giygas screamed in agony, his power was being overwhelmed. Giygas could no longer comprehend anything except the betrayal he committed against Maria. How could he have been so stupid? It was the humans that took him in; how could he ever attack them like this. And this feeling of remorse was what finished Giygas. He could no longer bear the thought that he had worked to destroy the world of Maria, the woman who was more her mother than anything the aliens were.

"I- I'm sorry. The E-eight Melodies. I forgot about them. There is nothing left for me here. I.. I must go. I must go be with Maria," Giygas said, crying.

"If you're truly sorry, Giygas, I'm sure Maria will be waiting for you. Ask her to sing the melodies to you again," Ninten responded just as tearfully.

Giygas smiled, then faded from existence. The darkness disappeared immediately. They stood on top of a now very peaceful Mt. Itoi. The magic of Giygas that had brought destruction across the times weakened and the world was restored. The world… was as if Giygas had never attacked. Ninten, Ness, Lucas, Young Link, Zelda, Paula, Ana, Claus… they had finally stopped Giygas. Everyone smiled and burst into laughter. The battle was over.

But it was not to be. A strong wind (they did not know this but it was sent by Tabuu) blasted Paula and Ana off the mountain. The boys began to run down after them to try to save them but the world… it came to an end. The black void we've become far too accustomed to seeing appeared in the sky and began to swallow up the world. Zelda choked, knowing there was nothing they could do for those poor children who fell off the mountain. Lucas was pulled to the side by Claus.

"Lucas, I'm going after them," Claus told them.

"But Claus, I can't lose you again!" Lucas cried.

"Listen Lucas, you have to understand. Paula and Ana, they mean as much to Ness and Ninten as I do to you. Someone has to go after them," Claus explained slowly.

"Then I'll go instead!" Lucas protested.

"No, you need to go. You have a more important job, that's what you get for being the better brother. Don't argue; you were the one who was still able to deny Giygas' control over your emotions even after losing all of your family. That's why I'm here even now. Go, Lucas, I will go for Paula and Ana. And I swear to you I will return to you and Paula and Ana, too. And if I don't come back, know that I'll be watching you from the same place Maria, George, and Giygas are," Claus whispered, then started climbing down.

She grabbed Young Link and pulled a stunned Ninten, Ness, and Lucas to her. The three muttered silent, sacred vow to save their world and return to their friends. The boys would not rest until then. Zelda took the three out of the world.


	6. The Spyro the Dragon World

**Welcome back to another installment. Today, our two heroes visit the mystical world of Spyro the Dragon and help him defeat Ripto! They'll need all their strength and power to take him down this time.**

**I also have a question. Instead of doing one world at a time, would you like me doing one of the individual three chapters that make a world as individual chapters? That would make releases much more consistent, but the releases would be much smaller in size. Just share your thoughts! **

**Chapter 18: The Land of Dragons**

Toon Link and Sheik arrived a lush, green clearing. Azure skies with fluffy clouds and a cool breeze hung over their heads. In the distance, an ancient castle with many stone spirals towered from the ground. There were signs of life all around, from the dragonflies to massive oaks. It was almost a paradise here. Then, of course, there were the dragons. That's right: dragons. Most of them were sleeping, but one was keeping watch and looked not entirely shocked to see them suddenly appear. It was as if he had been expecting him; he looked to be the eldest dragon and merely beckoned them over. Sheik was a little apprehensive (Link had faced a dragon prior to their fight with Ganondorf and she saw the wounds from that), but Toon Link seemed to be excited. In his time, he had befriended a dragon called Valoo, and he sensed that these dragons were just as friendly. They walked slowly over to the old dragon, careful not to wake anyone up.

"Hello, elder one, I'm Toon Link and this is Sheik. We have come a long way to seek your people," Toon Link said with reverence in an ancient language Valoo used.

"You know the ancient dragon dialect? Impressive, most dragons know only enough to get through their education," the dragon said amused.

"I know enough to get by. Who are you?"

"As I know you can tell, I'm the oldest dragon here: Glakar. I've watched over our group for untold time. I know you came from other worlds," Glakar said to Toon Link's shock.

"Glakar, before we continue, can we swap to a more modern language. I'm afraid Sheik doesn't know this language in the slightest," Toon Link explained.

"Certainly Toon Link," Glakar said in the language they all spoke.

"What's going on? I didn't catch any of that," Sheik wondered.

"Only good news Sheik. This is Glakar. He knows why we're here and I think he's going to help us. Which dragon will help us?" Toon Link asked.

But before Glakar could answer, a dragon covered in scorch marks and scars came running out of the castle in much hysteria. All of the dragons in the clearing woke up, and a small purple dragon came up next to Glakar as the dragon from the castle told to Glakar in high pitched tones what had happened.

"G-Glakar! The Ancient Dragon Stones… they're gone! I was in my forge, and wished to refill my supply of belly-fire from the stones, so I went up to rest before the Dragon Stone of Fire. But someone took them, and they left this!" he screamed.

They all looked at the piece of paper that he dropped. It was a simple calling card, laughing at them for leaving the Ancient Dragon Stones so unprotected, and at the bottom it was signed…

"Ripto," the purple dragon growled.

Toon Link and Sheik now got a good look at him. Though, with wings, he was about as tall as them, he was on all fours. He was largely purple, but with gold horns, belly, and wings. His eyes were also a deep purple, and, though he was clearly a young dragon, he had a look that showed strength and courage.

"I thought I burned him in lava. How is Ripto back?" the purple dragon whispered.

"Is it time for another adventure, Spyro?" a dragonfly that flew up to them.

"Yep, let's go Sparks!" Spyro roared in excitement.

"Wait, Spyro, we must speak," Glakar told him.

"What about? Does it have to do with these two?" Spyro said looking at Toon Link and Sheik with interest.

"Indeed, Spyro, they will join you on this adventure, but first we must speak and share with each other all we know," Glakar told them all.

"Alright, Glakar, if you trust them, catch them up, but hurry, we need to get Ripto!" Spyro exclaimed.

"Good. Now, Toon Link, Sheik, the Ancient Dragon Stones are more than mere stones, they're precious jewels crafted by our blacksmith's ancestors. They are seven, which is of course the most magical number, and they represent each of the dragon's most important powers: fire, ice, wind, life, water, spirit, and stone. These Stones give dragons the magic powers that have protected us for untold ages. Every young dragon, once he or she comes of age, rests in front of the powerful Dragon Stones, which will gift onto them its powers and the dragons will awaken with powers to equal its elders. Of course, that power doesn't last forever. Each of us must rest periodically in front of the stones to keep our powers. Otherwise we would become mere beasts. These Ancient Dragon Stones are our greatest treasure, and without them, our way of life could collapse in mere months. And it's especially bad. In a few days' time, it will be time for the young dragons who have come of age to receive their powers. I shudder to think what will become of those dragons if they don't reach their true potential in time. I don't know how Ripto found out about the Dragon Stones, but if he has them, he has surely scattered them across the nearby lands. Toon Link, Sheik, Spyro, Sparks, I cannot stress this enough, you need to find the Ancient Dragon Stones. Now, Sheik and Toon Link, please tell us what you know," Glakar monologued.

And so, they shared. Toon Link and Sheik explained everything that had happened to them. They told of Tabuu's ambitions, their past, the various worlds that exist, and what's doomed to happen to this world.

"So you came looking for a hero from our world to join your fight…" Glakar finally said, sounding resigned.

"Glakar, should I go with them?" Spyro asked his elder.

"No, not yet. I understand they need your aid, but we cannot forget our own people. It would be terrible if you saved the worlds, but returned to your destroyed people. This only makes the situation more urgent. Spyro, have you rested in front of the Ancient Dragon Stones recently? Are your powers up to the journey?" Glakar questioned.

"Uh, yeah see about that…" Spyro started.

"I told you to do that ages ago!" Sparks said, exasperated.

Glakar looked like he had already known the answer to his question, and merely was disappointed. He seemed to think over their predicament for a moment.

"Alright, there is a place nearby. An ancient cave, full of mysteries, and tales of supernatural horrors. Ripto might have hidden something there, expecting its reputation to keep it safe. I happen to know it isn't haunted and the screams and visuals are just volcanic activity. Toon Link, Sheik, we're going to need your help getting there, as Spyro probably now lacks his ability to fly due to not resting in front of the stones," Glakar instructed.

Toon Link seemed excited and pulled out a conductor's baton.

"I got it! This is the Wind Waker! It holds powers over the winds. Assuming it still works in this world, I can summon a hurricane to carry us to this cave. I'll need Spyro to guide me there, since I don't know where it is," Toon Link exclaimed.

"Gather around then," Sheik sighed.

"Good luck, children, may the Dragon Stones guide your wings to safer lands," Glakar bade them.

Sheik, Spyro, and Sparks gathered around Toon Link, and Toon Link began to conduct with the Wind Waker. Much to their surprise, an invisible choir began to sing in tune with his conducting. It was a strange song, full of longing for new lands, it seemed. The winds began to roar, and clouds formed over the skies. Toon Link finished conducting his song, and a hurricane touched down on top of them. When it lifted off, the four were no longer there. The hurricane seemed to be guided by Spyro's mental map to the cave, which he knew from previous adventures. It was a strangely pleasant ride for everyone. They never got wet, despite being surrounded by a whirlwind of water, the wind was nearly silent, and the air beneath their feet seemed assuringly solid. Finally, after a few minutes in the air, they stopped in front of a wide open cave.

Toon Link put away the Wind Waker, and they stood in silence, except for Sparks who flew.

"I guess we should go inside?" Spyro asked.

"Unless we want the dragons to disappear?" Sparks said.

They walked inside, straining their senses for any sign of danger. Toon Link's Master Sword glowed in the darkness, so he led the way. Spyro looked nervous, since he was out of powers, and he need these two strangers to defend in case they came into danger. They walked in silence for a while, carefully avoiding hot steam and geysers from the earth. Everyone seemed to be calming down from the foreboding atmosphere until they heard loud screaming noise coming from behind them somewhere near the entrance. Everyone panicked, could it be Ripto? They all ran, they needed to get the Stone first, before Ripto could catch up with them. The loud screaming seemed to be getting closer every second. There was no thinking, only blind fear. Finally, after far too long, a glowing red jewel stood on a pedestal in front of them. Spyro immediately laid down and closed his eyes, despite the screaming voices. He immediately entered a deep dream sleep. He dreamt that he was in his home pasture, but the tower looked much newer and there were far fewer dragons. There was a blacksmith in a corner near the castle, beating stone. He finally screamed in delight and pulled out a fire-red ruby out of the flames.

"The Dragon Stone of Fire!" the blacksmith yelled.

Startled, Spyro woke up and he felt a familiar burning in his gut.

"Yes, fire breath! Let's see how Ripto likes me now!" Spyro laughed.

Courage entering each of them, they faced the entrance and prepared to fight. It would be rather easier to collect the rest of the stones if they could be Ripto here. But it was not Ripto coming out of the smoke. It was a yellow… cheetah? It was standing on all fours, with an excitable face set with green eyes. He had a bow slung over his shoulder, but seemed in intense pain. Toon Link saw his tail was on fire, so he pulled out his Wind Waker and played a quick tune, which summoned some wind from somewhere that put out the fire.

"Hunter?" Spyro laughed.

Hunter gathered himself and said, "Hey Spyro! Glakar told me you guys were on an adventure, so I came to follow you!"

"Everyone, this goofball is Hunter! He's helped me on my adventures before. I'm guessing you made those noises because your tail was on fire?" Spyro kept giggling.

"Yeah, I saw you going into the cave, and I dodged a geyser poorly. I was trying to find you so you could put out the fire for me, but you ran away," Hunter said sadly.

"Sorry, Hunter, we thought you were Ripto," Sparks apologized.

"It's fine. Who are these two?" Hunter asked looking at the two humans.

"I'm Sheik, this is Toon Link. We've come from another world to help Spyro," Sheik explained.

"Well then that's good news, and you seemed to have already found the Ancient Dragon Stone of Fire! Now we just have six others left," Hunter beamed.

"Any ideas?" Spyro asked.

"I know there's a part of a nearby forest that, after Ripto visited, the vegetation has grown too thick to cross through. Your fire breath should destroy the vegetation, and I bet Ripto hid something there!" Hunter exclaimed.

"Then it's time we move on," Sheik reasoned.

They walked out of the cave and turned into a nearby forest. They continued to laugh and have a good time as they wandered through the woods. Hunter's entrance suddenly seemed like an amazing joke and they couldn't possibly imagine how they were so scared. As they traveled, the woods got thicker and thicker, and soon deep underbrush blocked any path forward for several feet up. It was no issue now; Spyro roared and great tongues of fire burst forth from his mouth. The dry underbrush immediately went up in flames and they jumped back as waves of heat washed over them. The fire never seemed to leap from the underbrush it was burning, despite its size. Toon Link and Sheik decided it must be the magic of the attack: it couldn't attack anything that Spyro had not intended. Thankfully, the fire did not take very long, and they stepped forward through the cleared path. They had now entered a magical clearing. The ground seemed an impossible shade of green, too vibrant to exist. The air was pleasantly warm, and the ground was soft. All sorts of woodland creatures rested here, and it looked like a woodland temple almost. In a pedestal in the center was the next Dragon Stone: the Dragon Stone of Life. Spyro once more laid down before it, and entered a deep sleep.

He was once more in the ancient clearing from before. But now, the dragons seemed to be breathing fire. They were having a blast with new abilities. Old and young dragons alike were having fun setting fire to numerous things, usually sheep. But this was clearly causing problems. All the flames and romping around by the dragons was destroying the beautiful life of the meadow. The grass was tearing up and the trees were smoking. Spyro was distraught; didn't these dragons realize they were destroying their own home? Spyro tried running up to them, trying to tell them to stop doing this, but he found that the dragons couldn't see or hear him. This was clearly a memory, Spyro wasn't a thing to these dragons. The blacksmith from the last dream lifted a new stone from the forge and shouted, "The Dragon Stone of Life!" With it, the blacksmith summoned new life into the meadow, and the grass recovered and the trees gained new growth. Life was back to normal for these dragons.

Spyro woke up to see the others surrounding him in awe of the life around them. Toon Link had obviously stored away the Dragon Stone of Life so that it would be safe. How did he fit those enormous jewels into that pouch? It didn't matter, they still needed more Dragon Stones.

"OK… where to now?" Spyro breathed.

"While you were asleep, I left to do some reconnaissance. I figured this would be a pretty long nap and I wished to find a place to search for the next Dragon Stone… There's a spire of stone, not too far from here, where the wind howls non-stop and there appears no way to reach the top. I sense something of great power up there," Sheik told him.

"Yep, definitely sounds like a Dragon Stone!" Hunter smiled.

"Then we'd better get moving! Ripto could be trying to prepare his defenses as we speak!" Sparks exclaimed.

"Show the way, Sheik," Toon Link said.

And so they left the forest once more in a group. Spirits were high. It had only been about two hours and they had already found two of the seven Dragon Stones. Spyro was now getting back much of his usual powers and it seemed like Ripto was doomed to fail. They began to talk about their plans for the future, when Sheik told Hunter why they had come, which seemed to put a damper on his mood.

"T-Tabuu? You're saying he can destroy this world?" Hunter asked.

"Yes, and he destroyed ours. Sheik… she lost someone special to her in the attack…" Toon Link sighed.

"I'm sure whoever it was was a special person," Spyro told them.

"M-Midna" Sheik cried.

"Who?" Sparks asked.

"She was called Midna. Her people had been cursed by my ancestors to wander in eternal Twilight. Even so, she… joined forces with us to defeat the great evil of our land. She was a true friend, and now-now I have to save her," Sheik whimpered.

Toon Link held Sheik's hand and said, "Sheik, Midna was strong. She's probably planning a breakout from Tabuu's control as we speak. We'll save her, I promise,"

"Yeah, and we'll get the Dragon Stones so that I can help you on your journey!" Spyro said bravely.

Hunter looked ready to say something, but they had reached the spire of stone. It was true, the wind was incredible here. Even on the ground, it was nearly knocking them over. All of them except Spyro seemed to be confused how to get up there. Thankfully, Spyro had a very clear idea of what he must do. He roared loudly and green sprouts began to grow under them. In mere moments, these sprouts turned into towering trees that lift them higher and higher. They were climbing at an alarming rate next to the spire. It was only through sheer force of will that all of them managed to hang onto their respective trees. Finally, they had reached the top and it was clear it was time for Spyro to receive his third power. This Dragon Stone was a stormy gray this time, with a feeling of silent power. Spyro, despite the screaming winds, laid down at once and rested.

Once more, he was in the dragon clearing of ancient times. This time, the Dragon Stone of Life had clearly done its work. The grass was tall and wild like it was today, the trees were soaring above their heads, all sorts of woodland creatures wandered around the dragons, and the dragons seemed to be having a lot of fun just messing with their new ability to call upon life to help their world. The only problem was how to help those in the highest branches. The dragons were tall, sure, but not tall enough to reach the tallest branches. And while they had wings, they were almost for show; the wings were too small to light their bodies off the ground. The dragons couldn't be very useful to the wild places of the world if they couldn't reach high areas. Spyro began to worry that this was where the story ended, but the blacksmith again came forward and held up a new Dragon Stone: "the Dragon Stone of Wind!" The dragons felt a new strength in their wings and took to the skies, harnessing the power of winds to carry them through the air magically. Spyro had flown before, but even so, he felt his heart leap in wonder at these dragons taking flight.

Spyro woke up and felt the same strength in his wings as before that told him the power of flight was his again. Once again, Toon Link had stored away the Dragon Stone of Wind.

"How do we get down?" Sheik asked.

"I'll show you Sheik! Grab onto me, everyone!" Spyro cheered.

Unsure of what was about to happen, everyone grabbed onto a part of Spyro's body, and he dove off the spire. Everyone else screamed in fear (except for Sparks who could fly himself and was merely following them), but Spyro extended his wings calmly. Despite the overbearing weight of two people, a cheetah, and a dragon, the wind took hold of them, and they were gliding to a controlled landing on the ground below. Spyro had never felt better; with these three orbs under his belt, he was ready to handle almost anything! The rest of the Dragon Stones should be a snap, and they'd show Ripto what for, and they'd be off to other worlds! Euphoria just kept flowing through Spyro, but then he felt a deep rumbling. That… couldn't be good, could it?

**Chapter 19: The Last of the Dragon Stones**

Everyone turned to the sound of the noise. The ground shook with every stepped the incoming beast seemed to make. It had to be unimaginably large, but no one could see it since it was shrouded by the trees of the forest. Hunter drew his bow, Toon Link prepared his sword, Sheik grabbed some knives, and Spyro took to the air. The beast was coming closer, and it was almost assuredly upon them. It seemed unlikely to be friendly, and so everyone was incredibly tense at the sound of the approaching footsteps. After what seemed like an eternity, a great beast broke out of the forest. To members of our world, the "real" world, it might have been said to look like a Tyrannosaur Rex, but if such a thing was on steroids. It was at least three times as big as any T-Rex that walked our world, it was a horrible green, its muscles rippled, and it had arms much longer than a T-Rex. This was truly a fearsome creature.

"SPYRO, YOU CANNOT DEFEAT RIPTO. STOP SEEKING THE DRAGON STONES OR I WILL DESTROY YOU," the beast boomed.

"Not a chance, big guy! I'll turn you into a rotisserie if you don't leave right now!" Spyro retorted.

"YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME, SPYRO!"

"Good thing he's not alone then!" Toon Link yelled.

The beast looked down, dumbfounded. It had seen Hunter before, but Toon Link and Sheik were brand new to him, and they definitely looked like nothing that came from Spyro's world.

"WHO ARE YOU?"

"Your worst nightmare, fiend. I sense your power, you have a Dragon Stone. Give it to us before we have to destroy you!" Sheik laughed.

"NEVER!"

"Alright team, work together. Spyro, fly up to his head and scorch him best you can! I'll launch a barrage of arrows into any weak spots I can find. Toon Link, Sheik, do whatever you can do to tangle him up and distract him!" Hunter ordered.

And they did. Spyro flew up to the head of the beast. He was breathing great balls of fire at his face, scorching his skin with every blow. The beast kept trying to bit him, but every time he was about to get Spyro, Hunter fired an arrow straight into his mouth, nose, ear, or on one occasion, his eye. This caused the beast to roar in utter agony and lose track of Spyro while he continued to blowtorch the beast. Toon Link was taking on the legs best he could, using the Master Sword to deal some great pain to his feet, but rarely deeper than an inch or two, the equivalent of a paper cut to the beast. Sheik kept popping in and out of the arena in great puffs of smoke to throw daggers, slice with a knife, or even use explosives. But just like with Toon Link, the skin was tough and these seemed to be more so aggravating him than hurting him.

"YOU WEAKLINGS. HOW DARE YOU ATTACK ME LIKE THIS? I WILL STOMP YOU UNDERFOOT!"

Toon Link had to jump back in order to avoid the stomping, and Sheik appeared next to him. They looked up, Spyro was moving slower, clearly a little exhausted. Hunter was running out of arrows. They had to end this battle quickly. Toon Link and Sheik looked at each other and nodded. They didn't know the specifics of the plan, but they knew each had a portion of an idea, that once started, could be completed by the other. Toon Link pulled a Grappling Hook out of his pouch and slung it at the beast's tail. The beast didn't seem to feel it, but that wasn't the whole plan. With a grin on his face, he leapt and swung from his rope and swung around his tail. He swung again and wrapped the rope around the beast's legs. Toon Link kept swinging and flying, tying up the beast's legs. The beast finally realized what had happened and flailed madly, trying to undo the ropes, but the Grappling Hook was incredibly strong, and it was essentially impossible to break. Toon Link wound the rope tighter and tighter, and Spyro and Hunter kept the beast too preoccupied to attack Toon Link during his acrobatics. Sheik drew her knife that hung on the bottom of her back reserved usually for Sheikah ceremonies and waited for Toon Link to finish his job. After about a minute of swinging, Toon Link finally wound the rope tight enough to topple the beast and the beast was on the ground on his belly. That was when Sheik stuck. She dove in and out of existence, slashing with the knife at his face with terrible power. Unless her weapons before, which did almost nothing to its skin, Sheik's knife cut deep and drew lots of blood. The beast roared in agony, but couldn't do anything to stop the rush of blades. Finally, after several dozen deep strikes, Sheik stopped, mercy on her face.

"Go, beast, back to Ripto. Tell them that he has no chance against us. Our united powers are too strong for him. If he returns the Dragon Stones, I'll give him the same mercy I gave you. I shall take the Dragon Stone you have," Sheik commanded, thrusting her hand at it.

The beast disappeared in a puff of smoke. Toon Link gathered his loose Grappling Hook, and Hunter gathered the arrows mysteriously left behind. Spyro landed next to them. Each of them gawked at Sheik for the awesome power she just unveiled. In the place of the beast, a large brown stone glowed and it smelled of the musky scent of the earth. Spyro walked up to it once more, and rested before it.

Once more, Spyro was in the meadow of dragons. This time, it seemed that the dragons had taken care of the clearing rather too well. The trees were too many and died in inopportune moments where their trunks blocked movement. It was hardly even a clearing anymore. Spyro shook his head, these dragons hadn't learned how to maintain balance with their life giving powers. Thankfully, the blacksmith was again preparing a new Dragon Stone. Spyro had arrived just in time, and the blacksmith pulled the new Dragon Stone out of the flames. "The Dragon Stone of Earth!" This time, the blacksmith showed how his skin became as iron and his claws and horns became stronger than steel. He charged around, destroying the decayed undergrowth. The other dragons followed his lead, and within a very short while, the ground was very much clearer than it was and the dragons could now move around much more freely. Spyro laughed, it seemed that these dragons' situation was getting constantly better.

Spyro woke up, the Dragon Stone gone again, and the strength of his body flooding back to him told him that he now had four of the seven Dragon Stones. It wouldn't be much longer before Spyro was back to his full strength, right? But where was the next Dragon Stone? They still needed the Dragon Stones of Water, Ice, and Spirit. So… where was the next one? Sparks was speaking with a nearby dragonfly and he seemed to hear something he liked, because he told it good-bye and flew over.

"Good news, everyone! That guy just told me somewhere nearby became an arctic wonderland, in summer! That seems like a Dragon Stone location screaming out to us to me!" Sparks relayed.

They all nodded and followed Sparks as he led them down a dirt path leading away from the forest. Compared to the rugged terrain they had just came from, this area was extremely flat. There was almost no change in the elevation, and it felt strange. Usually even plains had some elevation changes every once in a while. That wasn't the case here. It was totally flat, and the air seemed to be getting chillier. At first, it was hardly noticeable. In fact, it seemed to manifest itself only as a nice breeze at first. It seemed almost pleasant. But as they walked, the air became freezing and they started to huddle closer together to keep warm. Finally, a great wall of ice came from the horizon. It seemed to stretch off in either direction for miles, and it was extremely tall. Spyro might be able to fly them up there, but there was no telling how far the ice wall extended inside, or if the Dragon Stone was inside the ice. Spyro merely laughed and started slashing at the ice with his claws. They were crushed as if the ice wall was a sand castle under his strong claws. But it was slow work for them. Spyro's claws could only take out so much ice at once.

Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Spyro hit air on the other side. He dug faster, excited. He dug a hole big enough for all of them to crawl through, and they went inside. This was not an outdoors place: they had enter an ice cave. The Dragon Stone was nowhere in sight, but the passageway stretched down further and they followed the path. It was almost warmer in here than it was out there, since the passageways seemed to capture their body heat. Very little natural light refracted through the ice, so Spyro opened his jaw and held fire in his mouth. It lit up the cave and made their shadows dance, so they went down further. Everyone once in a while, they encountered a smaller ice wall, which Spyro lowered his head and charged at, destroying. They went like this for about half an hour until they entered a massive atrium. The ceiling seemed to raise for miles, and the area was a perfect circle, so wide that they could barely make out the other end. The top of the ice was so close to the surface that a lot more light entered this room, so Spyro put out his fire. In the center stood the fifth Dragon Stone. It was a pale blue, and the air around it was sub-zero. Spyro, again, laid down to sleep in front of this Dragon Stone.

This time in the clearing, it was clear some time had again passed since the last time Spyro visited. But this time, there was a fire out of control in the clearing. They had cleared too much of the underbrush, and the moisture of the ground wasn't maintained in the slightest. The grass underneath was dry as sawdust and had plenty of surface area from which to burn. The dragons were trying desperately to put out the fires, but none of their powers they had yet could stop a fire of this magnitude. Several of them were coming from the air to try to flap the fires out with wind. Others tried using their claws to dig earth to throw over the flames. Still others were trying to pull the life out of the way. The blacksmith was working frantically on another Dragon Stone to try to stop the incoming flames. He looked fearful, but also resolute. No matter how close the flames came to him, he continued working and didn't seem to mind at all anything that came close to him. Finally, he pulled a Dragon Stone out and cried, "The Dragon Stone of Ice!" He flew around, breathing ice onto all of the flames. The flames melted the ice, proving its own demise with the tonnes of water coming down on it now. The other dragons took flight and also used the power of the Dragon Stone to use ice breath. Within minutes, the fire was finally put out and everyone looked relieved to have saved their home.

Spyro woke up once more, the Dragon Stone safely guarded by Toon Link, but instead of the atrium, he found himself in a grass plain. Spyro must have looked utterly confused because Hunter said, "When Toon Link put away the Dragon Stone, the whole thing melted."

Indeed, the whole place was the exact same level of flat that the ice cave had been. He could almost feel the lingering cold of the caves. Spyro stood up, finally excited again. They now had five Dragon Stones! They were almost ready to face Ripto! Only Spirit and Water to go, and Spyro had a hunch where the Water Dragon Stone was. There was an mystical lake just a few miles away. Legends said a civilization of dragons once lived down there, but no one had ever seen the bottom. It'd be the perfect place to hid the Dragon Stone! He told them so, and they all agreed that since each of the previous places seemed to have a connection to their respective Dragon Stone, a magical lake was the perfect place to look for the Dragon Stone of Water.

And so, they headed towards the west, as the day hit late afternoon. It was crazy to think they were possibly going to collect all seven of the Dragon Stones in one day. It was, however, a comforting thought to many of them since they didn't know how long they had until the world of Spyro was destroyed by Tabuu. To be able to leave this world as soon as possible was the end goal to Toon Link and Sheik in particular because they were afraid of what would happen if they stayed during a world's destruction. All they know is that those still in the world were in Tabuu's power, but what that meant was a mystery to them. They kept a close eye on the sun. It was falling a little faster than they would like and they wished to at least reach the Water Stone tonight. Finally, the humidity of the air seemed to spike dramatically. Even Toon Link, in his clothes meant for the sea, was beginning to sweat and get bothered by the warm, wet air.

They had arrived at the ancient lake. They couldn't see the bottom, and it was dangerously overflowing. The land near the new shore was filled with trees and debris that had clearly not been in the water even a day before. There was no question: the Dragon Stone was in the water. But how could they get down there and grab the Stone without drowning? Thankfully Spyro had an idea. He took to the sky once more and flew to the river and waterfall that fed the lake. He used his new ice breath granted by the Dragon Stone of Ice to freeze them over. At least there would be no new water entering the basin. He flew back to them, and explained to them his second part of the plan. They would wrap a mold around their heads of cloth, then Spyro would place a layer of magical ice over that fabric. Removing the fabric, each of them would have a sort of diving bell apparatus that would allow them a supply of air underwater. Spyro could even refill the air underwater with the Dragon Stone of Wind! They all agreed it was an exceptionally good plan, and it took them about twenty minutes, but each of them had a large diving bell over their heads.

They jumped into the water one by one. Toon Link may have been a sailor, but even he had not been under the waves this long. Well, except for that sunken Hyrule business, but as that felt like moving on land and was a very long story, he didn't count it. They could now see why no one had been under this lake for so long. Even with their large pools of air, Spyro had to refill them with fresh air several times before they reached the bottom of the lake. Sheik vaguely remembered a tale from the legends of heroes past of Hyrule where another hero had to go into a temple deep under Lake Hylia, but she doubted that temple was even close to as far underwater as this one was. They reached the bottom, but that wasn't the reason they gasped. Before their very eyes, they saw the legend was true. There was an ancient city down here, abandoned. They opened the doors to the gate and found, by some long forgotten magic, the city's supply of air was kept safe from the waves, even with the door open. They pulled off their diving bells, and stepped onto the main street of the city. This was a major discovery; it was the Atlantis of this world. They stopped to gawk at every mural, every statue, every piece of architecture. What had these dragons been capable of? They agreed by silent consent to enter the tall temple at the center of town. It was the central location of the city, and most likely where the Dragon Stone was. It felt, if that was possible, even more weathered and sacred inside the temple than in the city. They could almost hear the dragons congregating in this very hall. Out where the alter clearly once stood, there was a pedestal. From it, water flowed into grates with unimaginable speed. This was causing the lake to overflow. Spyro said nothing and sat in front of the Dragon Stone.

Spyro looked at the clearing and found that even though the fires were put out, there was trouble once more in the meadow. The grass was still very dry and there was a very clear fire hazard remaining. The dragons were extra careful not to use their fire breath and risk setting fire to the place once more. They also tried to stay near the water source to avoid being caught away from the thing that could very much save their hides in the event of a fire. Only the blacksmith seemed to be OK with being near fire at the moment. He was working slower than before, trying to avoid random embers falling onto the rapidly drying grass. If even one spark landed on the ground, he might find himself up in flames in moments. However, he still worked tirelessly, trying to finish the Dragon Stone he was working on. And hopefully this one would fix all of their problems. After several minutes, the blacksmith pulled the new Dragon Stone out of the fires and showed it to his dragon friends, "the Dragon Stone of Water!" The dragons began the new use of this power to send jets of water out of their tails like pistols. They completely watered the entire clearing, and the place became far less of a fire hazard. Spyro smiled, these dragons were certainly becoming more like the dragons he knew.

**Chapter 20: Ripto's Rage**

Spyro woke up, and he found them looking around at the temple, waiting for Spyro to wake up. The Dragon Stone was safely stored away again, and there was only one left. There wasn't time to think about that yet, they needed to go back to the surface. They walked out of the temple, and prepared to walk out the main doors in order to float back to the top of the lake, but Hunter pointed at something.

"Isn't that a cannon? Couldn't we use that to launch ourselves to the surface?"

"You know what? I think it is!" Sparks exclaimed.

"Are we sure it'll work?" Toon Link asked.

"Only one way to find out," Sheik said.

And so they set off to the top of a nearby building. They climbed up many steps, desperately trying to reach the top soon. The air down here seemed so stale compared to the surface. They reached the cannon, and they saw the barrel was much larger than it had seemed from the street. It could easily fit them and half a dozen other people. In fact, it didn't even seem like a cannon. The place where they placed the ammo was a door that anyone could walk through, the control panel seemed to allow you to adjust the power to accommodate the size of the fired load. Sheik sat at the control panel, scanned the buttons, and quickly pressed a button she thought would work.

"That should work. Get in, fast. I set a timer for it to blast off in twenty seconds," Sheik commanded.

They all stepped through the door and the barrel started to rumble. A soft voice told them that launch was imminent.

"Transport active in 3… 2… 1…"

And they launched out of a window in the city's bubble. They were flying at incredible speeds that should have shattered their bodies, even when traveling through just water. It was a thrilling experience, full of exhilaration and excitement. The water that had taken them so long just to sink through was now hardly preventing them from leaving. It took them all but thirty seconds at this speed to reach the surface. But the problem was the landing. They launched high in the air and it would be a very hard landing. Spyro foresaw this and used his new mastery over water to form a cushion on the ground for them. It was still not a perfect landing, but at least no one had their bones shattered. They each began sputtering and coughing, as they had been underwater for thirty seconds without breathing. While they recovered, Glakar was seen approaching them from the road.

"Everyone, good job! I've heard from the dragonflies that you were heading to get the sixth Dragon Stone! I assume you got it?"

"Y-Y-Yes" Spyro coughed.

"Well then I have some bad news. I have heard from the dragonflies that Ripto heard you were nearly done reaching all the Dragon Stones and ordered the last one brought into his new castle with him. Spyro, you'll have to defeat him to get the last Dragon Stone!" Glakar warned.

"But Spyro isn't at full strength yet!" Hunter protested.

"It'll have to do. We can't let Ripto keep the Dragon Stone of Spirit," Glakar reminded Hunter.

"One thing I've learned, sometimes you have to make do with what you have," Toon Link said.

"He's right. Spyro has most of his powers. With our help, this Ripto should be pretty easy," Sheik reasoned.

"Yeah! Spyro isn't taking him on alone like he did last time!" Sparks cheered.

"Spyro, the castle is on top of a volcano a short distance from here. If Toon Link uses that admirable Wind Waker again, you can get there within the next ten minutes," Glakar advised.

Toon Link nodded at the suggestion and pulled out his Wind Waker. He performed his song again, and the clouds once again took over the sky. Glakar waved at them, bade them good luck, then watched as the hurricane whisked them away to deal with Ripto. It was a much shorter ride than before and it was much smoother now that everyone knew what to expect from the hurricane. This time, each of them took the time to appreciate the world below them. Privately, Spyro preferred flying under his own merit, but this was faster as well. They finally landed in front of a castle, and it looked like the mirror image of the dragon's castle. It was dark, foreboding. Where the dragons' castle was white, brightful and cheery, this castle was a deep purple, shadowy, and moody. Surrounding it was a moat of pure lava. The problem was not crossing the moat, but the fact that the drawbridge was up, blocking the only entrance.

I say it was a problem, but one finds that problems become much less significant when one has a dragon to help them. Spyro shot a few blasts of water from his tail at the mighty wooden drawbridge. Then he called upon moss and other great decayers of life to use the water to rot away the drawbridge. Within minutes, the drawbridge had all but disintegrated. Spyro grinned broadly, prideful at his work and feeling super pleased to have so many of his powers back. Hunter took a long jump and crossed the moat in a single leap, Spyro flew himself across, and Toon Link grabbed hold of Sheik and flew across with his Hookshot. The castle was infiltrated.

After several minutes of walking, they finally reached a throne room. Upon it, a small figure sat in total darkness. He laughed, and stepped into the light.

"Ripto," Spyro growled.

"Yes, it is me," Ripto smiled.

Toon Link and Sheik did a double take. This was the one causing all the problems?! He was no more than two feet tall, bright orange, with a single horn on his head. He also had a dark cloak wrapped around him. A single red ruby hung from his neck. He held a wooden staff set with another red ruby. He wore a grin of pure evil; it was the kind of look that portrayed genius underneath. His eyes were sunken, his nose flared, his mouth wider than looked right. If this little dinosaur could cause so much trouble, Toon Link and Sheik could not underestimate him for his size.

"Return the last Dragon Stone, Ripto," Hunter told him.

"I'm thinking… not," Ripto grinned evilly.

"You cannot hope to hold out against us. Together we're much too powerful," Sheik warned.

"This blade will tear through your hide," Toon Link said.

"Now who could these two be, Spyro! You've brought new friends? Humans? Strange allies Spyro," Ripto laughed.

"They're Toon Link and Sheik, warriors of other worlds. They're my friends, and together we'll defeat you," Spyro roared.

"Enough talk. The Dragon Stone of Spirit is mine! You cannot hope to defeat me again, Spyro!" Ripto screamed.

Ripto waved his staff, and the throne room disappeared. They were now in a stone arena, ringed by lava. Ripto stood at the center and threw off his cloak. The group of heroes crouched low, ready to dodge any attack.

"Spyro, get ready to die! I'll finally obtain dominion over the dragons!" Ripto said.

"Fat chance, Ripto!" Spyro teased.

Ripto roared and waved his staff once more. Great flames burst from it, and Spyro blew them away with his ice. Ripto looked not at all concerned, as if he had merely been testing a theory. Ripto kept waving his staff and this time threw ice at him. Toon Link fired an arrow enchanted with fire and intercepted the ice blast. Next, Ripto cast a blue barrier around himself, and Sheik tossed some explosives, which shattered the shield. Ripto lifted himself into the air, and Hunter shot him down with his arrows. Spyro got the inkling of a dangerous idea. Something crazy, something that Ripto couldn't have possibly have done. And even if he tried, it would be impossible…

"Are you putting it together Spyro?" Ripto teased.

"It's… it's impossible," Spyro seethed.

"What's happening?" Hunter worried.

"Why do you think I got the Dragon Stones? It wasn't just to weaken the dragons, it was to obtain the power of the dragons themselves! I cast a spell over myself that would allow the Dragon Stones to recognize me as a dragon! I have the power that all dragons do, Spyro!" Ripto laughed.

"This isn't good is it?" Sheik asked.

"No, I don't believe it is," Toon Link sighed.

"Why can't these things ever be easy?" Sparks complained.

And so they fought. And fought. And fought. Ripto kept launching attacks from the Dragon Stones, and the group kept merely cancelling them out. The group kept getting worn out and Ripto only seemed to be getting his second wind. The situation kept getting more dire, and there was no telling how long this world had left. They needed to end this, now. Sheik kept looking for an opening, but Ripto kept casting spells without end. None of them could even get close. At this rate, they'd be overwhelmed by Ripto. The power of the Dragon Stones were too strong, and they were running out of resources and time. They needed something… equally powerful. Sheik had an idea, and it was a dangerous one. She pulled Toon Link aside, and warned him what they needed to do. Toon Link nodded.

Toon Link pulled out his Wind Waker again, and played The Wind's Requiem, a powerful song that controlled the winds. He directed the wind to continuously buffet Ripto. Ripto seemed shocked, because his Dragon Stone of Wind powers should have stopped this. What they would later learn is that the Dragon Stone of Wind that was still in Toon Link's pack was lending its power to the Wind Waker to give it power to overwhelm Ripto. But that wasn't the plan, at least not all of it.

"Hunter, fire at will!" Sheik commanded.

Hunter immediately understood the plan and began firing his arrows, aiming for Ripto's hands. The magic of the Wind's Requiem didn't deflect Hunter's arrows, so they hit strong and true on his hand. Sheik followed up with throwing knives of her own, and Ripto was soon screaming in pain.

"Spyro! Grab his scepter!" Sheik called.

"Gladly!" Spyro replied.

Spyro flew up and bit onto the end of the scepter. Despite being shaken up by the wind and riddled with arrows and knives, Ripto knew that he could not let go of his staff for anything. But Spyro had found new strength and Ripto was very much weakened by the battle. After a fierce fight of Tug o' War, Spyro tore free the staff from Ripto's grasp. Toon Link saw this, and he commanded the winds to cast Ripto away far into the distance.

"I'll get you Spyroooooooooooooo" Ripto screamed as he flew away.

Silence fell as Spyro landed.

"Where's the Dragon Stone of Spirit?" Sparks asked.

"Ripto had it hidden by magic. I can call it forth with the other Dragon Stones. Toon Link, can you place them around me?" Spyro asked.

"Of course," Toon Link responded.

He placed the the Dragon Stones of Fire, Life, Wind, Earth, Ice, and Water around Spyro. Spyro stretched his legs to their full length and raised his head high. The Dragon Stones began to glow ever more brightly and they also began to lift off the ground and circle around Spyro. He let out a deep growl that turned into a violent roar that shook the arena down to the bedrock. Writing simply cannot explain how powerful this roar was. Imagine the most powerful earthquake you've ever been in and multiply it by ten. You might be in the ballpark of this earth-shattering event. Spyro seemed intent on scaring the Dragon Stone into existence. Finally, in front of them, a final Dragon Stone appeared in front of them and glowed just as brightly as the others. Spyro let the calling spell go and the Dragon Stone of Spirit hovered on the ground in front of them.

Spyro laid himself down to rest in front of the Dragon Stone one last time. This time in the clearing, he found the dragons deathly ill. What had happened? Wouldn't the magic help make them healthier, safer? Then he heard some of the dragons muttering.

"Too much magic…"

"Our Souls, they're overwhelmed,"

"Not meant to do this…"

Dragons had become imbalanced. By embracing powers nature had not gifted to them, they were overwhelming their own bodies. They were not meant to use magic. They were dying from the abundance of strength that made their life better. Spyro looked hopefully over at the blacksmith. Indeed, he was still working at his forge, but he was looking worse than Spyro had ever seen him. You could tell from his new concave chest, sunken eyes, and weak walking that he was not up to his usual strength. Nevertheless, he seemed intent to fix the problems he caused. Finally, he pulled a new Dragon Stone out of the flames. "The Dragon Stone of Spirit," he coughed. But as all the dragons received its powers, they all became better. They seemed to get back to their normal strength immediately.

That was the true power of the Dragon Stone of Spirit, and why it was the most powerful one of them all. It didn't grant fire breath or flight or strong claws, but it granted the ability to use these powers without burning up in the process. Spyro had been granted the power to use all the others.

Spyro woke up to horrible screaming. He looked up in horror at the sky; there was a black void sucking up the world. Tabuu had come.

"Spyro! The clearing of dragons!" Hunter screamed.

"No time! That void will suck us up if we don't leave now!" Sheik warned.

"But we have to return the Dragon Stones!" Sparks cried.

"We're about to fall into Tabuu's power!" Toon Link reminded them.

"Hunter, Sparks, we have to go," Spyro said calmly.

"No, we can't!" Hunter retorted.

"We can and we will. We need to beat Tabuu," Spyro said.

"Fine you go! I'm going back for the dragons. Sparks are you with me?" Hunter said exasperated.

"Yes, hold on," Sparks turned to Spyro, "Spyro, take the Dragon Stones. You'll need it wherever you're going. We'll go back and protect the dragons and the dragonflies."

"But-" Spyro started.

But Hunter and Sparks ran off. Spyro knew he couldn't waste any more time chasing after them. He merely held hands with Toon Link and Sheik as they took him out of the world.


End file.
